Thursday 31 December 2020

A frosty morning. A Common Gull trotted over frozen ground, too hard to allow it to dig for worms. It had migrated south to get away from things like this.


A mob of gulls flying past the island, almost all Black-Headed but can you spot two Common Gulls and two Herring Gulls?


A Lesser Black-Backed Gull plunged vertically into the lake ...


... submerging with its wings partly extended. I think they use their wings to steer under water, but don't think they can actually fly in water like Gannets.


The female Peregrine was on the tower in the morning. No sign of her mate.


A pair of Great Crested Grebes cruised up the Long Water.


I went to the Round Pond to check on the Black Swan. She seems to have calmed down after her recent troubles, and was swimming around placidly.


Mute Swans toiled to gain height to cross the bridge above the passing traffic. It would be much easier to fly under the arches, but they find that frightening.


Glad to say that the Goldeneye is still on the Serpentine, though I missed seeing it yesterday.


The Grey Heron in the Dell likes to stand on the weeping beech tree, but that exposes it to Carrion Crows, which hate herons and enjoy teasing them.


A Nuthatch called from a tree near Queen's Gate.


A compilation of Robins singing in different parts of the park.


A male Chaffinch ...


... and a male Great Tit came out to be fed in the shrubbery near the bridge.


I've been collecting short clips of people exercising in strange ways, and the third agonising procedure which I saw this morning made up a set.

9 comments:

  1. Ok, third one is not only very silly, but also dangerous. Wasn't there anyone correcting her or telling her to stop?

    Thank you so much for the six singing Robins! May their bright, cheerful song be a good augury for the coming year.

    Happy New Year, all!

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    1. She was visibly in pain. I hurried away before there was an ominous twang of snapping tendons.

      But a very happy New Year to you and all, and good riddance to 2020.

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  2. Thank you, Ralph, for the daily pleasure of your bird blog. A happy 2021 to you.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for reading it, and happy New Year to you.

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  3. Thanks for a consistently interesting, informative, informed and witty blog. Happy New Year, Ralph

    Just before the Boathouse closed Mateusz reported on a swan that had crashed into the bridge and died. A witness said it was attempting to fly under the bridge but it could equally have failed to gain enough height to clear the structure. Or changed its mind too late?

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  4. Thanks for a consistently interesting, informative, informed and witty blog. Happy New Year, Ralph

    Just before the Boathouse closed Mateusz reported on a swan that had crashed into the bridge and died. A witness said it was attempting to fly under the bridge but it could equally have failed to gain enough height to clear the structure. Or changed its mind too late?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy New Year to us all, and many more birds!

    ReplyDelete