Tuesday 6 October 2020

It was a day of sunshine and showers. Black-Headed Gulls and Carrion Crows played in the gusty wind ...


... which helped a Cormorant to dry its wings.


A Grey Heron took off from the Henry Moore sculpture.


A Lesser Black-backed Gull was hungrily eyeing the pigeons in the pigeon-eating gull's usual spot by the Dell restaurant.


This is not the gull that succeeded in killing a pigeon a few days ago, which has pale straw-coloured legs.


However, this gull with pinkish legs is often seen here, and seems to be tolerated by the pigeon eater. We have no way of knowing whether either of these gulls is his offspring.

Perching gulls make a terrible mess of the moored pedalos, and Egyptian Geese, which spend the night on them, make it far worse. The people at Bluebird Boats moor a collection of old unusable boats in the middle of the lake, which they call 'the dirty boats', in the hope that these will draw birds away from the boats that are in service.


However, even the dirty boats have to be cleaned from time to time, and half of them were away being hosed down while I took this picture.

The dominant Mute Swan at the west end of the Serpentine chased off a pair that had been bold enough to do some courting in his territory, something he particularly hates.


A Shoveller at the Vista gave the camera a grave stare ...


... and a Red-Crested Pochard preened under the collapsed willow near the bridge.


A young Moorhen in the Italian Garden stood impassively in a shower.


A Carrion Crow struck a grand pose on the standing stone in the Dell.


Starlings chattered in a sunlit plane tree against a stormy sky.


A Chiffchaff flitted around in the Rose Garden.


A Great Tit looked out from a holly tree near the bridge.

3 comments:

  1. The excellent people from Bluebird Boats deserve a medal for their patience, care, and thoughtfulness. I wish the geese and gulls would repay their kindness as they should.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The only person who seems to have house-trained a bird is the unnamed professor with the very well behaved raven described in Bernd Heinrich's Mind of the Raven.

      Delete
    2. Oh yes, the German professor! German ravens must be very orderly and compliant, even so.

      Delete