Sunday 26 July 2020

The young Little Owl on Buck Hill was quiet when I went by ...


... but later Julia captured some fine footage of it in a skittish mood, dashing up and down a branch, nearly falling off, chewing a twig and spitting it out, and stretching out its wings during a spell of drizzle.


Its mother kept an eye on it from a nearby branch.


Two Feral Pigeons in the Rose Garden belied their peaceful reputation with a furious fight.


Near the Albert Memorial, a Wren loudly scolded a Jay ...


... on a higher branch, holding a peanut it had just taken from my hand and waiting for its little tormentor to shut up so that it could enjoy its snack.


A family of Blue Tits dashed around in a tree near the bridge. This is one of the young ones, still grey rather than blue.


The new resident Grey Heron in the Dell posed artistically in the famous vista that attracts thousands of photographers. People tend to think it's a plastic replica until it moves.


This Black-Headed Gull, ring number EZ73323, has returned to the same noticeboard beside the Serpentine that it occupied last year. It may have been doing this for decades, but it only came to notice recently when it was ringed by Bill Haines.


The new family of Great Crested Grebes was out on the water in front of the island. One parent fed them feathers to help their digestion, but they showed much more interest when the other one turned up with a fish.


One of the Mute Swan cygnets on the Long Water was interested in an air bubbler.


This is one of the two blond Greylags that come to the lake every year to moult. It's behind schedule and still hasn't regrown its wing feathers.


A shoal of little carp swam across a pool in the Italian Garden.


A Gatekeeper butterfly perched on a thistle beside the Long Water.


A Honeybee worked its way over a helenium.


A vision in pink beside the Serpentine. She was promoting a new brand of chocolates.


An older brand. 'Mr Ambassador, you spoil us with your golden treats, but you shouldn't have sat on them.'

16 comments:

  1. What a wonderful 2+minutes video of the wee owl having fun with a vigilant mama caring n protecting ...thanks Julia ...
    The gatekeeper butterfly and the honeybee feeding on the helenium are so vibrant, divine and glorious...
    Pity I didn't do my park walk today..I would have like to savour the chocs....

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    1. They were selling the new chocolates, not giving out free samples -- a mistake. But perhaps you might have preferred the squashed Ferrero Rocher. Better the devil you know ...

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    2. I wouldn't have expected the Royal Parks to accommodate that kind of commercialism, did the seller(s) appear to be authorised? Anyway, how topical that the French Embassy is at the Albert Gate. Jim

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    3. No, indeed the sellers -- two girls dressed in pink fluff and a man on an ice cream tricycle -- were not authorised, and I saw the man being stiffly interrogated by the staff of Bluebird Boats for trundling back and forth in front of their startlingly priced snack bar.

      I have met a number of ambassadors and i am sure that none of them would have allowed a pyramid of Ferrero Rocher chocolates (which must have been glued together to stay on the salver) on to their premises.

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  2. Ha ha ha... thought the lady in flamingo pink costume is promoting the new brand of chocs...
    Still remember the advertisement, All because the lady loves milk tray...the diving ...

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  3. Replies
    1. Hope they don't put candyfloss in the chocolates.

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    2. Too sweet too savour...candy floss is for circus... remember vividly when watching acrobats, elephants and monkeys...tigers ...et al

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  4. Are Ferrero Rocher chocolates sold in GB in summer? I'm envious. They don't sell it here between the months of June and September because the brand claims the heat will spoil it.

    Wolves will spare a submitting vanquished foe, but doves of peace will continue until it is dead.

    Could watch the young Little Owl, and the Grebe chicks, for hours.

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    1. I suppose that Ferrero Rocher chocolates are sold all year round here, but I hadn't seen seen one for years till today. However, the grotesque Ferrero Rocher commercial is still remembered by everyone over a certain age.

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    2. It was the same commercial here! It was the stuff of parodies, jokes, and satire for years on end.

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    3. Only a few years ago the advert was being 'quoted' again here, see this. Jim

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    4. The English version of the commercial seems badly dubbed. I wonder what language they made it in.

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  5. I know dogs can't have chocs..can birds bees and butterflies ...

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    1. Theobromine, similar to caffeine, in chocolate is dangerous to many animals, but pigeons can probably survive anything. Anyway I doubt there's much real chocolate in the cheap coating of Ferrero Rocher's disappointing products.

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