Tuesday, 17 March 2020

The Long-Tailed Tits in the Rose Garden continue to line their nest with feathers, bringing them from somewhere in the shrubbery where probably there is a dead bird ...


... a fair-sized one, to judge by the size of the feathers, which are sometimes too big to get into the nest.


The nest at the Lido is in a much earlier stage and the birds are still bringing structural materials, in this case a bit of spider web.


This nest is hard to film, but at least you get a general idea of its growing size.


A Green Woodpecker at the back of the Lido poked around in the grass for insects, larvae and worms.


A Feral Pigeon in the Rose Garden picked up a twig.


Then it flew across Knightsbridge to the Lanesborough Hotel at Hyde Park Corner, where it must have found a place to nest. Rooms at the Lanesborough cost over £600 a night, but pigeons get in free.

Clive Murgatroyd got a picture of a Chiffchaff near the Henry Moore sculpture.


There is an injured Grey Heron which is usually in the Dell. It was hit by a bicycle and it can't put any weight on its left leg. It looks as if the injury is to its upper leg, and therefore may be treatable -- but first it has to be caught. It came up to the edge of the Serpentine and Hugh the Wildlife Officer and I tried to get it, but failed. Hugh will keep trying.


I think this is the heron that got a bit of plastic net stuck on its bill a couple of years ago and had to be rescued with considerable difficulty. An unfortunate bird.

Nothing was visible in the herons' nest on the south side of the island where at least one chick has hatched.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was in his usual place with his mate. He hadn't caught anything recently and looked bored.


The Coots are still rebuilding their big nest under the balcony of the Dell restaurant.


A male Mute Swan arranged twigs to start a nest, trying to encourage his mate. It's a bad place and she knew it, and cruised away.


One of the Bar-Headed x Greylag Goose hybrids preened on the edge of the Serpentine.


Mark Williams got two good shots of butterflies: a Brimstone in the Flower Walk ...


... and a Comma hiding against a dead leaf in St James's Park.

6 comments:

  1. How on earth did the heron get injured by a bicycle? Are cyclists getting as bad as dogs (or rather the owners)? Completely inconsiderate I mean.

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  2. That's a very unlucky bird. I hope Hugh and yourself will again perform the miracle of saving it. If birds believed in God, it'd see you as its guardian angels.

    Pigen Killer looks so very bored.

    I could almost melt with love for the little fluffy feather balls, the Long-Tailed Tits.

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    1. Watching the building of this Long-Tailed Tits' nest has been an unforgettable experience.

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  3. "Watching the building of this Long-Tailed Tits' nest has been an unforgettable experience."

    Ditto the videos.

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    1. I hope to be able to assemble the whole sequence into a short film. But fingers crossed about the survival of this all too visible nest.

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