A pair of Great Crested Grebes fancied a nest site between two wire baskets of plants at the edge of the island. However, a Coot had the same idea.
Two male Mute Swans at the island spun furiously to establish dominance. One of them won. This contest had been going on for two minutes before I started filming.
The Black Swan annoyed a Mute Swan on the Serpentine by following it too closely, and got chased off.
It went on to the Long Water and started pestering another swan.
The dominant swans on the Long Water have finally got the idea that the nesting island has been repaired for them. The male shooed the other birds off and posed defiantly.
A Shoveller drake fed with his mate at an air bubbler, which brings up a lot of tiny creatures for the pair to eat. He saw another drake approaching and shooed him away.
The young Grey Heron on the island seems visibly larger each day.
The Common Gulls will be away soon. They arrive later than the Black-Headed Gulls and leave earlier.
A Blackbird looked soberly elegant on a tree near the leaf yard.
A Robin in the Rose Garden finished a worm, which it had cut into sections to make it easier to swallow. It flew on to a twig and sang a few phrases.
A Long-Tailed Tit looked down from a branch next to the feeder in the Dell.
The Long-Tailed Tits' nest in the Rose Garden is in one of two euonymus bushes. The other has Blue Tits nesting in it. One of them perched on a rose bush.
The Coal Tit near the Albert Memorial came to my hand to take a pine nut.
A Goldcrest looked for insects in a bush behind the Serpentine.
A Pied Wagtail was hunting in the Diana memorial enclosure.
The advantages of spinning to the point of dizziness as a superiority weapon escapes me. But doubtless Swans will know why they do that.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how the Grebes get straws for their nest by diving. Will they be able to make the Coot reconsider, though?
Alas, poor worm.
The bits the grebes were fishing up for the nest were old twigs that had become waterlogged and sunk. Do you remember the enormous Coot nest near the Dell restaurant that was made of sunken branches? I suppose they are only just heavier than water, which is why the Coots were able to move such big objects.
DeleteI wonder why the Black Swan is so insistent on shadowing other swans? Perhaps wants to bond?
ReplyDeleteI've noticed our numerous Common Gulls now have gleaming white heads of their breeding finery. Expect them to go in the next couple of weeks.
Lovely shot of the Goldcrest.
I'm puzzled by the behaviour of the Black Swan. It always follows male Mute Swans, but it's rather large as Black Swans go and seems likely to be male. It's still young, though, and may simply be confused.
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