Sunday 5 July 2020

This is the first time the second family of Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water have come over to the west side of the lake where they can be seen from close up. They lurked under a bush. Grebe chicks don't have to be told to keep under cover, they do it naturally.


The family near the bridge came out for a moment from the shelter of the willow.


The Coots nesting on the platform of Bluebird Boats were not bothered by the activity all round them.


There was quite a strong wind, but the waves haven't disturbed the two well made nests at the east end of the Serpentine. This is the one at the top of the weir.


Yet another brood from the prolific Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine, this time eight goslings. They weren't bothered by the wind either.


A pair of Egyptian Geese have occupied the Mute Swans' nest on the gravel bank in the Long Water. The swans have finished with the nest, and didn't seem to mind.


The other pair of swans -- the dominant pair -- brought their three cygnets right up to the mutually agreed frontier between the territories. So far the truce is holding.


One of the brood of two cygnets on the Serpentine rested at the Lido. It's just beginning to go through the awkward shaggy stage before it becomes beautiful again.


A female Mandarin turned up on her own at the Vista. The movements of Mandarins on the Long Water are mysterious. They come down from the Regent's Canal apparently at random.


The new resident Grey Heron in the Dell surveyed his kingdom from the top of the standing stone.


A Carrion Crow drank in the pool at the top of the waterfall.


A Dunnock lurked in the bushes under the feeder in the Rose Garden ...


... while a rat went through the sunflower husks to see if there was any goodness left in them.


The feeder has so far proved to be in a place where the rats can't get at it, hung from a long piece of straight wire. But they'll probably find a way eventually.

A Honeybee worked over a knapweed flower ...


... and a Meadow Brown butterfly perched on a thistle.


Common Blue Damselflies whizzed around in the reeds on the Long Water, catching midges.

5 comments:

  1. My, the new Grebe chicks are so large already!

    the look of defiance on the Coot's face is incredible. "This is my spot and I'm not budging".

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    1. If there were an Egyptian God of Tenacity, he would have the head of a Coot.

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  2. WOW, what a fantastic feast of Pics and videos.. birds, bee and butterfly on this blog ...damselfly and a rodent..

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    1. The patch of knapweed attracts a lot of insects. It's just outside the main western entrance of the Rose Garden, across the path from a cedar tree. If you go into the Rose Garden from this entrance and look to your right you will see a bigger wildflower patch, now coming into flower, which is also full of various insects. That's where I got the Small Skipper butterfly a few days ago.

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    2. Thanks for the location of the patch...:))

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