Friday 5 March 2021

A Herring Gull did the worm dance in the Diana fountain enclosure. A young one rudely knocked it out of the way and collected the worms it had brought up.


A Pied Wagtail ran along the shore at the Lido looking for insects.


A Dunnock hunted insects along the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace.


In the Flower Walk Neil was feeding an odd-looking Coal Tit with a speckled head.


A Great Tit ...



... and a Blue Tit at the bridge were also eager to be fed. It's hard to get food to this Blue Tit because it won't come to your hand and the ground is covered with Feral Pigeons.


A Long-Tailed Tit paused for a moment in the corkscrew hazel bush in the Dell.


The fountain in the Rose Garden with the statue of Diana (the goddess, not the princess) has been out of order for a long time. Today it was managing a slight trickle out of one spout, giving a Magpie the chance of a drink.


The young Grey Heron on the island is growing at an astonishing rate.


The Black Swan was following the male Mute Swan at a distance of inches. No wonder he gets annoyed and chases it away.


Finally there are some swans on the nesting island in the Long Water -- but the wrong ones. These are last year's cygnets, not the parents who are meant to be using the place.


Four swans flew down the Serpentine, climbed to a good height and set off for St James's Park.


The gang of Red-Crested Pochards also seem to have headed that way, leaving just one drake at the Vista.


This is not the one with the Mallard mate, who was in his usual place in the Italian Garden.

Most of the Shovellers have left too, but there was still a pair feeding at the water bubbler in the Long Water.


A remarkable picture by Tom taken at Hornchurch Country Park: a hybrid between a Baikal Teal and an ordinary Eurasian Teal. Hybrids often turn out a bit of a mess, but this is a very smart duck.

4 comments:

  1. That's a spectacularly gorgeous duck, even for ducks' colourful standards.

    The lid on the Long Tailed Tit is so red. Was it eager or excited about something?

    Manners and civilised bahaviour have gone to pot even among gulls.

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    1. Hope the Long-Tailed Tit's eyelid wasn't red because I was annoying it by photographing it. But it was in the middle of having a good meal at the mealworm feeder and may just have been feeling enthusiastic.

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    2. Maybe the little bird was just happy to see you? I'm sure it must know you by sight.

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    3. You can't feed Long-Tailed Tits by hand -- I wish you could -- although they will come to feeders. They are indifferent to humans, neither interested nor afraid.

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