Tuesday 19 May 2020

A family of Long-Tailed Tits dashed around in a hawthorn near the Italian Garden, with the parents hard at work catching insects for their young.


There was also a family of Goldcrests in a holly tree near the bridge. They were mostly hidden in the foliage and I only managed to get a hasty shot of one adult.


A Blue Tit entered and left the gas lamp post in the Rose Garden to feed the young. The top of the post is an ordinary scaffolding tube with a gas pipe running up the middle, and it seems amazing that the birds have managed to squeeze a nest into this space.


A Pied Wagtail took off to catch a fly in the top left corner of this picture. They have large wings for their size, necessary for speed from a standing start.


The first young Starlings are out in the trees between Peter Pan and the Italian Garden, one of the places where Starlings congregate.


Starlings washed furiously at the Lido, and one of them dried its feathers on the low railings.


A Carrion Crow basked in the sunshine.


There was a Peregrine on the barracks tower.


The Mute Swans on the nest at the boathouse are constantly in attendance, but there don't seem to be any eggs yet.


The Egyptian Geese on the Long Water still have three goslings.


Two of the gang of five Red-Crested Pochards on the Serpentine.


The female is very subtly coloured.


This is the first damselfly I've seen this year, a Common Blue near the bridge.


Hearing secret harmonies.


A picture by Jesús Porras, Tinúviel's bird guide, of a Little Bustard near Trujillo. They are becoming rare.

11 comments:

  1. Are you actually a Powellian, Ralph, or was that just the mot juste for the young lady's gyrations?

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    1. No. It just seemed an appropriate quotation.

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  2. Charlie Parker used to speak of 'dancing in my head'; he didn't bother with gyrations.

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  3. I am astonished that she did all that without getting up from her seat!

    Always a delight to see the Long Tailed Tits going about their secret businesses.

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    1. I now have almost enough video to make a longer compilation of the breeding cycle of Long-Tailed Tits. Just a few close-ups of the young should complete it. This is the most difficult part. Might have to use stills, which I already have.

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  4. I was a bit shocked quickly looking through the blog & seeing an image of the Little Bustard- what a corker! Now that would cause a massive twitch in the unlikely event one turned up in the park!

    Surprised the Common Blue Damselfly is your first damselfly of the year. I've only just seen my first of these, but locally very good numbers of Large Red followed by Azure & smaller numbers of Blue-tailed plus my first sighting of Banded Demoiselle last week. Also 3 species of dragonfly. Look forward to more Odonata shots!

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    1. I've never seen a Large Red or an Azure in the park. Forgot to mention that I got a distant view of a female dragonfly, probably a Black-Tailed Skimmer.

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  5. I haven't had a Black-tailed Skimmer yet but there are reports from around England. Given that males emerge first I suspect more likely an immature male that would have similar colour to a female. I won't record this one as it was distant. Had hoped to see one locally yesterday when I saw 10 species- highlight being a Downy Emerald- not something I ever expected to see locally.

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    1. Black-Tailed Skimmers are always the earliest, and also the commonest, dragonflies in the park. But I can't be 100% sure.

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