Friday 3 July 2020

The Reed Warbler family at the east end of the Serpentine were busy and noisy. The father gave me a suspicious stare from a small tree.


A young Magpie in the Rose Garden chased its parent begging for a share of the peanut I gave it. The indulgent parent gave the youngster both nuts out of the shell, so I threw it another which it ate itself.


The young Blackbirds at the back of the Lido were bouncing about in a cherry tree.


The Round Pond is in a very exposed place and despite its small size can get quite large waves on it. When these break over the edge they leave it covered with foam and, apparently, stranded small creatures such as insect larvae. A Starling collected these.


A seedy old Carrion Crow stared out of the Chinese Water Fir at the Serpentine outflow.


The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull's mate was enjoying her share of one of his victims.


The Great Crested Grebes at the east end of the island absolutely must have chicks, from the way this one is sitting with wings raised. But despite watching for a while I couldn't get a glimpse of one.


The Coots in the Italian Garden are nesting for the third time this year.


Bluebird Boats reopens tomorrow, so today is the last day for this Coot nest on the platform. It clearly has eggs in it, as the Coot was turning them. Mateusz hopes to move nest, eggs and parents to a safe place on the island. There is another Coot nest at the other end of the platform that will also need moving.


A report from Duncan Campbell on the seven young Egyptians at Marble Arch. They now have fully developed wings and were exercising them.


But their mother is still regrowing her flight feathers after moulting, and it will be a fortnight before she is airworthy.


There are seven teenage Egyptians on the Round Pond, and these six on the Serpentine.


A sunny spell brought out three young Red-Eared Sliders on the fallen tree in the Long Water.


A head-to-head encounter with a Comma butterfly.


The Wollemi Pine in the Dell has produced a male cone as well as the female one I photographed earlier. On the right is another female cone, still developing and green.

7 comments:

  1. That magpie parent is very patient!

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    1. Not for much longer, I think. Most of the young Magpies in the park have already been kicked out to fend for themselves.

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  2. Being a parent magpie is hard bussiness. No wonder they give youngsters the slip as soon as it is feasable.

    Love the imperious attitude of the little Reed Warbler father,

    Coming face to face at such close quarters with a butterfly must be the closest thing to having an alien look at yourself from up close!

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    1. Butterflies, and indeed all insects, have such different faces from us that it hardly registers as a face at all. No wonder insects in cartoons have to have human faces drawn on them.

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  3. Hi Ralph- the Small Tortoiseshell photo shows a Comma- notice the characteristic jagged hind margins to the wings. I had 2 of these in the front garden yesterday. Quite a few vanessids in the garden with some Red Admirals & small Tortoiseshells around too.

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    1. Thanks. Careless of me, but its shape doesn't show well in a head-on view. It was above head height and couldn't be seen from an angle that showed its shape clearly.

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  4. I love the penultimate pic of the comma butterfly and the male wollemi cone, both have similar colours, so vibrant and rich...
    Altogether lovely ...

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