Tuesday 23 March 2021

The Dell was busy with small birds. A pair of Blue Tits chased each other through the branches.

A Chaffinch foraged on the ground.

A Wren perched on the rock in the middle of the stream.

There was another Wren in the undergrowth near the bridge.

The Long-Tailed Tits near the Italian Garden were still hard at work building their nest.

A Pied Wagtail hunted for insects along the shore by the terrace of the Lido restaurant, where a line of planters screens it from humans.

A pair of Wood Pigeons canoodled on a branch near the Albert Memorial. They are much more ceremonious in their courtship than Feral Pigeons.

A Carrion Crow shone in the afternoon sunlight.

The Grey Herons in the nest at the west end of the island changed places, a sign that there are eggs in the nest again. Let's hope they have better luck this time.

The nest on the south side of the island is now continuously occupied, but the heron is usually standing, which shows that there are no eggs yet.

The lack of nest sites around the lake forces Mute Swans to make nests in silly places, in this case on the grassy bank at the back of the Lido which before the current madness was used by sunbathers. However, if sites were provided for even a tenth of the swans they would breed out of control. As it is, the population is increasing.

The Black Swan and its reluctant Mute companion stood on the new patch of gravel on the Long Water where the pool for children is being made.

All three broods of Egyptian Geese remained intact: six on the Serpentine near the bridge ...

two at the Lido ...

... and seven at the Henry Moore sculpture.

The solitary rabbit was also grazing beside the sculpture. Nobody has seen more than one, so it seems that the population is not going to recover as it has in previous years.

Although the morning was grey and rather chilly, one of the Yellow-Bellied Slider terrapins was out on the fallen horse chestnut tree in the Long Water.

5 comments:

  1. So she follows mute swans on land as well? I'd give my left arm to know what is going through her head.

    Glad to see they have made it through another day. Every day takes them closer to growing large enough that they are out of danger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also, I wonder what the Mute Swan thinks. He seems to have resigned himself to having a black shadow, and hasn't chased his follower away for some time.

      Delete
  2. Hi Ralph! Lovely blog as always, any Long Tailed Tit nests in gorse this year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No. Of the four nests I've found none are visible.

      Delete
    2. Ah nevermind! Thanks for replying Ralph!

      Delete