Sunday 17 January 2021

During the cold weather, Great Tits are coming out of the bushes all over the park asking to be fed.


A Blue Tit waited in a bush near the bridge ...


... where Ahmet Amerikali got a second shot of a Long-Tailed Tit clinging on with one foot and holding a mealworm with the other.


A Coal Tit in a rose bush in the Rose Garden ...


... and a Robin.


Ahmet found a Green Woodpecker nearby.


No sign of the Kingfisher for several days. There was a Stock Dove in its favourite place opposite Peter Pan.


Wood Pigeons ate very unripe ivy berries in a tree behind the Rima relief. They don't seem to mind how hard and green berries are.


A Carrion Crow spent some time examining one of the baskets put up for Grey Herons on the island. It would be a good foundation for a crow's nest, but of course both they and herons are more than capable of starting one from scratch.


The herons themselves were all out of their nests. One perched on a rowing boat ...


... and there was a pair on the pedalos.


A Herring Gull picked algae off a large stone.


The Coots that build a doomed nest every year on a post at Peter Pan have started early. Like socialists, they do the same thing over and over again in the mistaken belief that it will succeed this time.


Several pairs of Egyptian Geese were shouting at each other from the tops of dead trees.


A Gadwall drake preened at the Vista.


There are very few chickens in central London. These are in the allotment in Kensington Gardens. Several years ago I found some in Lambeth.

4 comments:

  1. Are you expecting the Redwings to come back soon? If they do, they’ll be disappointed not to find the ground churned up by the Winter Wonderland.

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  2. Those are spectacularly pretty chickens. I do miss my chickens. They are way cleverer and fonder of their owners than many think.

    What a great detailed picture of the Gadwall's lovely, understated plumage.

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    Replies
    1. The chickens are from a selection of traditional breeds, seldom seen now. There used to be information about them on the wall of the allotment hut, but sadly a fox got in and ate the original ones, and the allotment people haven't yet put up descriptions of the replacements.

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