Wednesday 30 December 2020

A Nuthatch strolled down an oak tree in the leaf yard, perfectly matching the bark.


A Wren nattered beside the Long Water.


A female Chaffinch from the family near the bridge.


A Pied Wagtail hunted along the deserted terrace of the Dell restaurant.


A sudden panic sent Feral Pigeons into a swirl.


A Carrion Crow played with an empty plastic cup for quite a while, enjoying the noises it made when it was pecked.


Another enjoyed a dogfight with a Black-Headed Gull.


A Black-Headed Gull made a harsh remark to a Common Gull on the solar panel at the Round Pond.


Most of the Grey Herons' nests are on the north side of the island, and hard to see against the light. This one is on the sunny side but has to be viewed from across the lake.


It ignored the baskets installed in the trees to help it, and preferred its own construction.


A Great Crested Grebe cruised through reflections of a reed bed.


Coot were fighting as usual on the Long Water.


A Tufted Duck flew up the Serpentine.


Yesterday afternoon Hugh rescued the Black Swan from the reed bed where she was stuck. Later she flew up to the Round Pond and relieved her feelings by bullying the other swans.


There was no sign of the Goldeneye, or of the Kingfisher, but as usual the fox was curled up in the hollow tree across the water from Peter Pan.


One of my favourite winged creatures, the lion on the Baglioni hotel at Palace Gate.

4 comments:

  1. I wonder if a winged lion has a name. A species of sphinx, perhaps?

    Very glad that being walled in hasn't affected the Black Swan's spirit. As long as she is up for some bullying, all is well. Same thing goes for Coots: as long as they are in the mood for fight, some semblance of normality remains.

    I wonder if we are witnessing Crows' first attempts to create music... they are song birds, after all.

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    1. I think that if the calls of crows were speeded up six or eight times we would hear melodious twittering. They are song birds slowed down by their size.

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  2. Lovely shot of the Nuthatch with matching background. We're seeing a few wintering chaffinch around here now but nothing like the numbers last year where I had flocks of about 40 & 70 at a couple of local sites. No double figure counts yet.

    The Goldeneye is still about as you may have seen, reported on London Birders.

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    1. Glad someone has seen the elusive Goldeneye. After missing it in two visits I was about to give up. Will look again in the morning.

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