It was another unseasonably sunny day. The Albert Memorial shone in all its glorious silliness.
The sunshine lit the plumage of some Starlings in a tree beside the Serpentine.
A female Great Spotted Woodpecker climbed around in a tree in the Rose Garden, hard to see through the branches and I couldn't get an unobstructed picture.
A Robin foraged in the bushes beside the Long Water.
This is the male Coal Tit of the pair near the bridge, much shyer than his mate and reluctant to come to the hand to be fed.
A flock of Long-Tailed Tits searched for insects in one of their favourite places at the east end of the Lido.
A Goldcrest was dashing around in the bushes near Peter Pan.
One of the usual Jays was waiting for a peanut near the bridge.
Both the female Peregrine ...
... and the male visited the barracks tower several times during the morning.
A young Herring Gull amused itself by tearing up the awning of the small electric boat.
A Black-Headed Gull examined a mysterious object wondering whether it was food. I think it may have been some exotic sprout from a trendy vegan's lunch. The gull decided it was all right, and ate it.
This Mute Swan had been forced ashore by the dominant swan on the Long Water, and was in a place near the bridge never usually visited by swans. But she had struck lucky and found an abundance of lush grass and weeds, which she was eating with obvious enjoyment.
The water in Diana memorial fountain has been turned off during the Great Panic, but every now and then they start it going to wash down the stonework. Geese, pigeons, a crow and a heron enjoyed it while humans were excluded.
The Diana Fountain video: nice visual portrait, and the soundtrack: american voice 'unfortunately, you cannot travel'. Sums it up, somehow/somewhat.
ReplyDeleteIt does sum up our reign of terror. I try to use the bits of video where at any rate the voices of passers by are in a reasonably unknown language, but it can't always be managed especially on a sunny day.
DeleteI think it interesting , when snippets of conversation -in any language- are suddenly audible.
DeleteThat's a great bird spa!
ReplyDeleteLooking for things to be positive about: I am glad to live in a world where Robins and Long Tailed Tits exist. Sometimes I force myself to pause to think just how many tiny miracles there are around us, and to teach myself to be grateful for their existence.
I wish they'd keep the water running in the Diana fountain even though people are not allowed into the enclosure. It has become a splendid bird sanctuary free of humans and dogs, with lush grass for geese, worms for gulls, and insects for wagtails.
DeleteI wonder if the Ministry of Defence could be persuaded to consider placing a nest tray up on top of Hyde Park Barracks? That pair have tried for several years at a large building west of the Metropole, but have always been unsuccessful. Alas that the barracks houses Army rather than RAF - one would imagine the latter service might be better disposed...
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could find out who the Colonel of the regiment is, and write to him. They should be proud of having such noble creatures on their premises. I wonder how you can get to this ledge -- possibly only by abseiling from the top of the building, and then do the windows open sufficiently to let you in without having to continue down the whole building on a rope over 300 ft long? Sounds more like something for the SAS than for the Horse Guards.
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