Tuesday 13 April 2021

A Little Owl has been seen at the southwest corner of the leaf yard by Ahmet Amerikali, who sent this picture.


This is probably the owl that was seen a couple of months ago flying from near the Speke obelisk to the swamp cypress tree on the edge of the Long Water -- or, of course, its mate.

A Blackcap sang from a nearby treetop.


The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull seized a Feral Pigeon at the Lido restaurant and dragged it into the water to kill it. But two Coots, seeing the struggle. instinctively joined in ...


... and in the ensuing scrap the pigeon got away.


A Coot has started nesting on the wire basket of twigs near the bridge, which acts as a fish hatchery. The twigs have recently been replenished by Hugh Smith the Wildlife Officer, and some are protruding above the water level. The Coot was doing its best to break off the ends and add them to the nest.


The pair of Great Crested Grebes that nest at the east end of the island were hanging around the nest site, though they haven't started building yet.


The Mute Swans nesting in a dangerous place next to the Lido restaurant terrace are at least comfortable. They have been given a generous portion of cut reeds, which they were arranging. A Moorhen searched for insects. Even the aggressive swans don't mind this harmless little bird.


The Egyptian Goose pair on the Serpentine that had eleven goslings is now down to eight, but the one that originally had eight has somehow managed to keep them all despite the circling gulls and stealthy crows.


The three goslings at the Triangle car park are still all right, and were eating weeds on the edge of the shrubbery.


But their blond father has been ousted by another male. which took advantage of the father having been injured by a dog. The ousted male was sitting disconsolately a few yards up the shore. The intruder attacks him if he tries to return, and in his reduced condition he can't win.


The Egyptians at the Henry Moore sculpture still have four, here seen through the railings at the bottom of the enclosure.


The other family on the Long Water, also with four, were in exactly the same place as where I photographed them yesterday. There must be some tasty weeds here.


Sunshine showed off the purple iridescence of a Tufted drake's head.



A fox dozed in its favourite spot, a fallen willow opposite Peter Pan.


Four good pictures by Tom. A Carrion Crow rips up a Polish cigarette packet to see if there's anything edible inside.


The other three are from Regent's Park. The male Kestrel of the pair that live in a Kestrel box put up by Tony Duckett, who feeds them every evening.


A Little Grebe. We do have at least one on the Long Water here, but the furtive little bird is seldom seen.


And a remarkable shot of Long-Tailed Tits mating.

6 comments:

  1. So, so happy to see this photo of the little owl. Seems like it is either feast or famine with no sightings of any owls for six months and then a tawny and little owl are spotted in the park within 24 hours.
    I love your blog, Ralph, thank you for your wonderful photos and brilliant information.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words. Yes, owls are like buses: you wait for one for ages and then two come along at once.

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  2. Yay, a Little Owl! Best piece of news today.

    That's a remarkable achievement by the Coots, to make Pigeon Killer lose his lunch. I wonder if he would be able to grab a Coot in retaliation.

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    1. Paul and I were speculating on whether the gull could take a Coot. Paul thought that it might be possible if the gull could get a quick death lock on the back of its neck. But I think the Coot would react so violently that it would get free, though injured. Hope we don't see this put to the test.

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  3. Wonderful story about the coots - I wonder why they took part. Did they perceive the gull as being a threat? Or did they think that it was a coot fight and didn't want to miss out?

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