Friday 24 July 2020

Three Common Terns visited the Long Water to catch the abundant small fish. They all seemed to be adults but two of them were a couple, with the male feeding the female. This seems like breeding behaviour, but surely it's too late in the year for that.


They were harassed by Black-Headed Gulls.


The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was in the middle of the Serpentine eating his latest victim. This was unfair on his mate, who was waiting in the usual place near the Dell restaurant and hadn't seen him make a kill.


The Great Crested Grebe nesting at the west end of the island seems to have a new chick, as it was sitting with its wings raised.


The two young grebes at the bridge demanded loudly to be fed.


The dominant female Mute Swan on the Long Water saw someone with a plastic bag and quickly  brought her cygnets over.


A Greylag Goose on the Serpentine enjoyed a vigorous wash, several times somersaulting upside down.


Another disliked an officious notice at the Lido and tried to undo the cable tie.


Duncan Campbell reports that the Egyptian Goose family at Marble Arch are together again with all seven of the teenagers, now 89 day old. He wonders whether they are getting enough to eat, as the grass is cropped down to the ground. They have been eating the ornamental plants in the flower beds.


Probably this Mallard has been nesting on the Serpentine island. The lake is not a good place for ducklings, far too open and full of hungry Herring Gulls.


Both the young Little Owl ...


... and its mother could be heard and seen on Buck Hill.


In the Rose Garden two Magpies collected interesting objects -- a shiny metal hair clip and part of a pink plastic baby's dummy.


Another Magpie showed little respect for the goddess Diana on her fountain. (This is officially called the Huntress Fountain, to distinguish it from the one commemorating the mortal princess.)


Tom has finally got back to Rainham Marshes, and sent an interesting picture of a juvenile Cuckoo he found there.

5 comments:

  1. that's an excellent picture of the young Cuckoo. Very lucky to see one!

    I do have well-founded suspicions that geese can read, but don't care to show it, except under duress.

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    1. But not even geese can undo plastic cable ties.

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  2. The somersaulting greylag goose video is absolutely divine...reminds me to do some but the bones are not so supple anymore...
    I like the common terns pic but love the fact that the male is providing for the female..
    The mother and child owl pics are amazingly awesome...

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    1. See Julia's remarkable Little Owl video in today Saturday's blog.

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