More rain, and the park is now flooded in many places. A Carrion Crow didn't care and stepped out gaily.
I was having a discussion on Wednesday's blog post about whether tits could move their inner front toes independently to hold a seed against a twig. Certainly some birds, such as owls, can swivel their outer front toes to change the shape of their foot from Ψ for walking on the ground to Χ for gripping branches or catching prey. Look at this Great Tit's feet and see what you think.
At last a Blackbird has shown up on the north edge of Kensington Gardens next to the Bayswater Road. The hawthorn hedge here used to be a favourite place for them, and you might see half a dozen between the Italian Garden and the west edge of the park. But this year there has been a severe lack of them everywhere.
There is no shortage of Robins here -- I found six.
A Mistle Thrush sang in a tree near the Kensington Gardens bandstand.
I can't resist photographing the Long-Tailed Tits which come to visit the mealworm feeder in the Dell.
At the island a pair of Grey Herons worked on building their nest, though not very hard. One couldn't reach a twig, the other flew away. But another nest is complete and the heron settled down in it. It's possible that this bird already has eggs, but the herons here usually take a long time to get going.
A heron on the Long Water preened its neck with a foot.
There were seven Cormorants on the remains of the swan island.
The Coots building a nest on the post at Peter Pan broke off to enjoy a fight.
The Black Swan on the Round Pond came hurrying over. It ought to know by now that I don't have any food that it likes, and I'm not going to give it the unhealthy bread it craves.
A pair of Mute Swans drank from a delicious muddy puddle, which they much prefer to the filtered water in the pond.
Some were grazing on the grassy bank at the back of the Lido ...
... and another charged up the Long Water.
A mild day brought out a few Buff-Tailed Bumblebees on a berberis bush in the North Flower Walk (these are actually about the only flowers in it, but that's what it's called). This is a poor quality photograph taken in dim light, but it's my first bee picture of the year.
So happy to see the first Bumblebee! They were missed.
ReplyDeleteThere's never too many Robins, and there's never too many pictures of Long-Tailed Tits.
I do think mud-flavoured water must be like cocktails for swans.
It's probably tastier than some of the satanic gloop that has been pressed on me as human cocktails.
DeleteLike the shot of the strutting Crow through the water; also the atmospheric shot of the roosting gang of Cormorants.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you have a Blackbird again near the Bayswater Road. I can remember when they were quite common there. I did actually get one in my garden yesterday morning while counting for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch- a nice surprise, given the recent dearth of them. He even sang from the roof briefly as I topped up the feeders.
I'm hoping that the Blackbird outside my living room window will start singing soon.
DeleteYou have to wait for the spring tree blossom for the North Flower Walk to justify its name - the bulbs aren't bad either, once they're fully up.
ReplyDeleteWot no gladioli?
DeleteMaybe not - but I wonder whether the chainsaw sculpture of giant bugs at the entrance nearest the Italian Gardens has an Aussie twang to it? I emailed the Parks website but no reply.
DeletePerhaps it should be renamed the Bug Walk.
DeleteI can see that the tit's right outer toe is initially crossed under the middle toe. Perhaps the seed was thus transferred from this foot to being held between both feet, it does show some additional dexterity. Jim
ReplyDeleteYes, there definitely seems to be something going on other than simple gripping caused by the tendons in the leg. There is a small but perfectly formed PhD thesis lurking in this matter.
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