Wednesday 1 July 2020

A dull day often makes it easier to find small birds. A Chiffchaff ...


... a Greenfinch ...


... a Blackcap ...


... and a Reed Warbler could all be seen around the Long Water.


A Wren in the Dell had collected some immature earwigs to feed its young.



Not seen for some time, the Grey Wagtail was back at the top of the Dell waterfall.


A Magpie drank at the other end of the pool.


In the Diana fountain enclosure, a young Carrion Crow's parent thought its offspring should stop begging and find its own food.


A Rose-Ringed Parakeet near the leaf yard ate the very last cherry on a Bird Cherry tree.


The Common Tern was back on the Serpentine.


The Great Crested Grebe chicks at the bridge were being fed.


The other two are now too large to ride together on a parent's back.


A Moorhen enjoyed climbing on the moored pedalos.


Three of the four Coot chicks at Peter Pan rested and preened in their well sheltered nest in a waterside bush, which has kept them safe from gulls while chicks from more exposed nests have been eaten.


Virginia shot this video of a female Egyptian Goose returning to her nest in a hollow tree beside the Round Pond. Nesting in trees gives Egyptians a great advantage. The big geese in the park, which nest on the ground, are hardly breeding at all as they are attacked by foxes.


A Small Skipper butterfly perched in the breeze in the wildflower patch in the Rose Garden.


The Wollemi Pine in the Dell has produced a cone, which a Housefly was exploring.

6 comments:

  1. A Wollemi Pine? Can't have been there that long. How tall is it? Jim

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    1. About 6ft. It's the second one in the park, only a few years old. The first one died, I think from being planted in too wet a place.

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  2. I hadn't noticed Egyptian Geese were such powerful flyers.

    I shouldn't be asking this so soon, but - when will the larger Grebe chicks be out of the woods? They are large enough now to be safe from gulls and crows, aren't they?

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    1. Egyptian Geese have large wings for their size, and are surprisingly good at precise touchdowns in trees, especially as they have quite ordinary webbed feet without much grip.

      The testing time for young grebes is when they become independent and have to find their own fish. Many don't make it.

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  3. Wondrous wollemi pine, wild and wonderful..I am aware of the wollemi tree from 'downunder' but have not seen the flower..love the pine pic and so does the the housefly...must check it out ..
    The small skipper butterfly sitting so still on the wild patch is so small and wonder whether wild winds will blow it away....
    Love wildflowers in all shapes and sizes..

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    1. The thing on the Wollemi Pine is a female cone. They also have male cones, on the same tree, which are smaller and thinner. But this tree, which is still young and small, has only managed the cone you see this year.

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