Wednesday, 7 April 2021

A Mistle Thrush flew into the nest near the Round Pond with a worm. Two chicks reached up for it. I think there are only two.


They are hard to see from below, and this is the best picture I could get of one of them, now losing its down and getting proper feathers.


A Grey Wagtail ran around looking for insects under the bushes at the Lido restaurant.


Neil found a different Grey Wagtail in the Italian Garden, using a metal rail as a hunting station to catch midges.


A Pied Wagtail did the same on a moored rowing boat in the Serpentine ...


... but mostly they prefer to hunt in the grass at the edge.


Near the Albert Memorial, Neil filmed himself feeding a Robin, several Great Tits, and a very shy Blue Tit which at last dared to come to his hand.


He also got a picture of a Chiffchaff in an Italian alder on Buck Hill.


There are two Wood Pigeon nests in the shrubbery below the Triangle car park.


One of the Grey Heron chicks in the nest on the island stood up and flapped its wings.


The Coot nest under the balcony of the Dell restaurant has stood up well to the recent winds. Severe storms can remove the part above the water, but the enormous substructure of waterlogged branches in 2ft 6in of water seems indestructible, so only the top needs to be rebuilt.


Miraculously, the Egyptian Geese at the small boathouses still have eight goslings ...


... but the family with the blond father are down to three. Leona Tan took this picture yesterday when the light was better.


A Mute Swan flirted with a teenager on the Long Water.

4 comments:

  1. They're practicing, right? For when they grow up. I imagine at that age swans are still infertile.

    Coots are my spirit animal. No matter the odds or the impossibility, they soldier on.

    Loving all the Mistle Thrush action.

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    1. Yes, I suppose they're practising, or at least the teenager is. Young grebes also practise their greeting ritual, for example.

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  2. Lovely to see the various wagtails. I chanced upon a pair of Grey Wagtails yesterday morning at Grosvenor Waterside near Chelsea Bridge.

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    1. I think that's the colony from which Grey Wagtails come into the park. I've seen them leaving the park in a straight course down Sloane Street which will take them to the bridge.

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