Saturday 26 September 2020

A band of Long-Tailed Tits worked through a hawthorn tree, a favourite species of theirs.

Several Blue Tits accompanied them.

This charming video of Long-Tailed Tits bathing in a rock pool was sent by Jesús Porras, a birdwatcher and guide in Extremadura in western Spain. He has a blog at https://iberian-nature.blogspot.com/.

Robin posed prettily beside the Long Water.

The Grey Wagtail in the Dell picked tiny creatures out of the pool, maybe Daphnia water fleas.

Duncan Campbell sent two pleasing pictures: a Feral Pigeon eating cardoon seeds in the Rose Garden ...

... and a Wood Pigeon bathing in a puddle.

The ground under the Henry Moore sculpture on the Vista has just been rotavated before being returfed. The turned-up soil is full of insects and worms, attracting a band of Jackdaws.

Carrion Crows socialised at a muddy hole in the Dell which is usually full of water.

A crow shouted insults at a Grey Heron on the roof of the Lido restaurant.

A young Herring Gull played with a lighter ...

... and another one had fished up a bit of broken bottle.

A Black-Headed Gull attacked a Red-Crested Pochard on the Long Water.

A pair of Gadwalls returned after several months' absence.

This Shoveller drake is getting his breeding plumage back, and already has a dark green head.

This one is still completely in eclipse, and looks like a female except for his yellow eyes -- females have brown eyes.

The three latest Moorhen chicks in the Italian Garden are now teenagers.

Although it was a chilly day, a rather tattered Common Carder bee was out in the wildflower patch at the back of the Lido.

4 comments:

  1. Poor Heron, it looks so put-upon.

    I am scared. What if the gull learns the uses of a lighter, and chooses to teach other gulls to light a fire?!

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    Replies
    1. Gulls are held back by their weak little feet. Otherwise they'd be the master race and we'd be hiding in caves.

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  2. Lovely shot of the Long-tailed Tit.

    Carder Bees were about the only insects I saw yesterday. It felt more like a December day than the end of September- from summer to winter within a week!

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    Replies
    1. The Carders seem to have appeared late and in unusually large numbers. That was an old and tatty one, and it looks like the end of the season. Colder again today. I am digging out my winter coat.

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