When the Magpie had gone the owl came out. It was in a nervous mood and flitted from branch to branch.
Julia filmed this remarkable sequence a couple of days ago, of the young Little Owl on Buck Hill being fed by its mother with a large caterpillar. Just after it had eaten its meal it was knocked off its branch by a Magpie. Owls have a hard life, all the other birds hate them.
Another interesting video by Julia, filmed from the window of her flat. Swifts visited a nest in the eaves. The only time a Swift lands is when it's nesting -- otherwise they fly continuously day and night, eating, drinking, mating and even sleeping on the wing.
A fine picture by Tom from Rainham Marshes, a young Bearded Tit in the reeds.
It's hard to tell whether Black-Headed Gulls are courting or quarrelling, as the first part of their display is the same. In this case it was the second.
The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull's mate felt like doing a bit of hunting for herself. She hasn't learned his skills, honed over many years, and didn't catch anything.
A Grey Heron found a good fishing platform on an abandoned Coot nest between two baskets at the island.
At the west end of the island, the sitting Great Crested Grebe moved its head down for a moment, allowing just one hasty shot of two new chicks.
The chicks at the other end of the island followed their father around.
Whenever anyone at Peter Pan looks as if they might be going to feed the birds, three families make a beeline to the edge -- the Mute Swans with three cygnets, the Mallard with two ducklings, and the Coots with four chicks.
Two Moorhen chicks appeared on the collapsed and dead willow tree near the Italian Garden. I hadn't seen them before. Moorhens are very good at keeping their family out of sight.
The incompetent pair of elderly Egyptian Geese that are usually in the Italian Garden were unexpectedly joined by a third.
Blondie was in her usual place near the Dell restaurant and stared at the camera with mild curiosity.
Near the bridge there was a flash of orange and a Jersey Tiger moth landed on a twig. It then refused to open its front wings to reveal its orange hind wings. When I came past two hours later it was in the same position, and didn't even budge when I took a close-up picture with my smartphone.
Lovely video of mama owl feeding baby owl by Julia...thanks...I never knew owls are not popular with other birds....
ReplyDeleteThe jersey tiger moth is perhaps hibernating ??...
Hibernating in July?
DeleteA bit blur about butterfly behaviour... please enlighten...
DeleteHumans hibernate..I certainly do from extreme heat and cold...
Hibernation is what some animals do in winter when it's cold. Some butterflies do actually hibernate, but it's a big subject.
DeleteThanks :)))
DeleteJersey Tigers, like many other Tiger moths, have chemical defences against predation and their markings are thought aposematic, i.e. a warning to predators. Hence they are often relaxed to close approach, like bees, ladybirds etc. Jim
Delete:))) thanks!
DeleteThanks for the information. Interesting that the Garden Tiger has quite different, but also presumably aposematic, markings.
DeleteThe Tiger Moth group has quite an array of defences, including caterpillars having irritant hairs, some adults producing ultrasonic clicks that are aposematic to bats, but one species producing a burst of such clicks in response to an attacking bat to confuse it. Jim
DeleteIsn't "tiger moth" the name of an airplane too?
ReplyDeleteBeing a Little Owl is hard. but at least the young' un has plenty of admirers, even virtual ones, to make up for the rest of the birds' spite.
Yes, the De Havilland Tiger Moth was a biplane used as a trainer during the war. A lot were built and many are still flying.
DeleteAnd according to Wikipedia, the blessed Dame Olivia de Havilland was a cousin of de Havilland the aircraft designer. Jim
DeleteOlivia is gorgeous...she lived a longevity life...bless O...
DeleteJersey Tigers are so beautiful. In flight they look so exotic- I had one flying in a country park in Hayes yesterday. There is a form which has yellow hind-wings rather than the more typical orange-red..
ReplyDeleteI know Peacock butterflies enter dormancy (not true hibernation, but as you suggest a huge topic!) quite early-usually by mid- July. The new individuals feed up on emergence & then seek out suitable sites to enter diapause before emerging in the spring to mate. A week or two back I was seeing large numbers of Peacocks, now just the odd one here & there, which suggests many have already gone to ground.
Thank you for the information. Yes, that splendid word 'estivation', for doing the equivalent of hibernation in summer.
Delete