There were also some House Martins.
Two Sand Martins whizzed by, but were out of sight before I could raise the camera.
In the far distance a Sparrowhawk could just be seen carrying what looks like an unfortunate House Martin.
The young Grey Wagtails are now independent and feeding themselves. Both were at the Lido. Here is one of them looking for insects between the ribs of the non-slip rubber mat on the jetty.
One of the parents was also here, but simply hunting for itself now.
A Robin sang in the Flower Walk.
A young Herring Gull played with a leaf.
Somehow the single Coot chick on the Long Water has managed to climb up to the Italian Garden, and was preening on one of the idle fountains.
A view of the two Coot nests under the balcony of the Lido restaurant, both of them built up from the bottom because there is nothing to attach them to. The first one shown here is in 2ft of water, the second in 2ft 6in -- impressive achievements of Coot engineering.
A pair of Gadwalls fed together on the Serpentine.
The young Egyptian Geese on the Round Pond are now quite large.
Duncan Campbell reports that the Egyptians at Marble Arch have lost two goslings and are now down to seven.
Better news from Joan Chatterley, who was in Battersea Park: there are two new broods of Canada goslings.
Incidentally, I haven't seen the Canada goslings at the Lido for a couple of days, but it's very hard to see anything there because the gates are shut.
A squirrel wanted to be taken for a ride.
Four half grown chicks, nearly out of the woods of goslinghood I hope: that's pretty good going for an Egyptian isn't it? Has anyone seen the single chick?
ReplyDeleteYes, I saw it this morning, in good shape.
DeleteI'm almost afraid to ask about it. Usually when Ralph doesn't mention a favourite bird I tend to fear the worst.
ReplyDeleteSwifts make my heart soar.
I just thought there had been a lot of pictures of it recently. However, the family of ten is now down to nine. Still not bad going considering the time since they hatched.
DeleteSwifts are endlessly astonishing, and uncommonly difficult to photograph.
You did well to capture the Swift so well. My local ones seem to disappear in yesterday's gale. Though I see Swallows most days I haven't seen any martins yet this year. The nearest House Martin breeding colony I'm aware of is probably by Ruislip Lido-just a little too far to walk.
ReplyDeleteSwallows are infrequent visitors to the park. But House Martins nest locally on the Kuwaiti Embassy and possibly Kensington Palace.
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