Saturday 16 January 2021

A Robin fluffed itself up to the max on a dank day, did a bit of preening and sang a few phrases.


A female Blackbird foraged on the rain-sodden turf near the Rose Garden.


The young Grey Heron was fishing at the Serpentine outflow.


We haven't seen a gull eating a crayfish for some time, but a Herring Gull had found one here, and was keeping the hungry Carrion Crows away.


The Turkish Crayfish in the lake go through boom-and-bust cycles which I can't explain. Also, there used to be American Signal Crayfish but these seem to have disappeared entirely. Both are invasive species and elsewhere they are all too successful.

Usually a Moorhen has no trouble evicting a Black-Headed Gull from a post. It just walks up the chain ...


... and off the gull goes.


But sometimes the gull refuses to budge, calling the Moorhen's bluff.


A pair of Great Crested Grebes displayed on the Long Water. They didn't work up quite enough enthusiasm to dance, but they will soon.


The Mallard drake often seen in the Dell with his mate posed proudly on a rock.


The duckboards in the Italian Garden seldom attract ducks, which prefer to fly when they leave the pond. But today there were two Mallards standing on the base of one of them. They are members of the trio with the Red-Crested Pochard drake ...


... who was preening his fine feathers a short way off.


Common Pochard drakes are also very handsome.


Mute Swans massed at the Lido. The grassy bank at the back is a favourite grazing spot.


The Tyburn Brook is a small stream that runs from Bayswater and originally joined the Westbourne river near the present Serpentine island (which is artificial). It's not the same as the larger Tyburn river, which runs a mile to the east. The brook is now completely covered up, but after prolonged heavy rain it bursts out of its culvert and forms a pond in Hyde Park which is enjoyed by the local birds.

2 comments:

  1. The excitement of the birds after sighting the hidden river is contagious!

    I know the Robin is a tiny murderer, but isn't it pretty?

    The Grebes look as if they were caressing each other. Affectionate birds.

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    Replies
    1. It's always a wonderful moment when Nature bursts out of her man-made corset. I think the park people should accept the inevitable and install a sluice to make the pond a permanent feature.

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