Monday 18 January 2021

Carrion Crows enjoyed a brawl at the leaf yard.


A Goldcrest peeped out of a bush by the bridge.


A flock of Long-Tailed Tits moved down the edge of the Serpentine.


A Blackbird came out on a branch at the back of the Lido.


One of the two handsome bronze Feral Pigeons perched on the railings at Peter Pan.


Both Peregrines were on the barracks tower, keeping their distance from each other.


As usual, one Grey Heron looked on while the other was at work on the nest.


A heron waded along the edge of the Long Water looking for a rat in the undergrowth. They always like to keep their feet on the ground. They can swim if they have to, but not at all well.


There can't be much meat left in this crayfish claw. The young Herring Gull was just playing with it.


Another was playing with a tennis ball. A Carrion Crow grabbed it and played with it briefly, but really wasn't interested and left it. The fun was in stealing it.


Two Cormorants on the Long Water were already in breeding plumage.


The Black Swan was on the Round Pond in militant mood. It can dominate most of the Mute Swans here, but has a much harder time when it comes down to the main lake.


There were six Gadwalls on the Serpentine and 18 in the park as a whole, the largest total I've seen.


But this Shoveller drake on the Serpentine was alone.


The pool at the top of the Dell waterfall attracts all kinds of birds which come to drink and bathe. A pair of Mallards shared it with two Carrion Crows.


'Anything you say may be taken down and used in evidence.'

9 comments:

  1. I'm almost afraid to ask: are those policemen? (police-persons?).

    I'm sad for the lonely Shoveller. I wish there were more of them to arrange one of their grand, dizzying shovelling circles.

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    1. Yes, they are police. They show the effects of sitting around in cars eating takeaway snacks, but today they were being drilled in bicycle skills, which is why they were wearing those helmets.

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  2. Pleased to see some police doing something other than asking people why they're there, or where they're going, or why they're having a picnic (i.e. a cup of tea) whilst sitting on a park bench. Or indeed standing around mainline stations with firearms.

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    1. I meant the police, of course..

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    2. The famous picture of the police at the station with sub-machine guns was a photo-op intended to frighten people (for that is how we are governed). I know someone who uses Waterloo regularly, and nothing like that has been seen since.

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  3. Interesting, and appalling. We're not being treated as responsible adults, that's for sure.
    I've just went by St Pancras and Kings Cross: the ones I saw weren't armed, but there seemed to be a lot of police around.

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    1. I don't think we've been treated as adults for many years. The difference now is that the state is no longer bothering to mask its tyranny.

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  4. The Crow fight amused me- remind me of delinquents falling out of the pub after closing time!

    The Cormorants are looking pretty handsome in their breeding finery. Always nice to see a Goldcrest shot!

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