Wednesday 26 May 2021

The four Coot chicks from the nest on the post at Peter Pan, which have somehow managed to avoid being eaten by gulls, were being fed at the water's edge.


The Moorhens in the Italian Garden seem to be down to one chick. But they breed several times in a year, and so far they have always managed to get several chicks through.


The five latest Mute Swan cygnets at the island enjoyed a peaceful moment at the edge of the lake.


However, the aggressive male is still causing trouble, and yesterday Julia Schmitt photographed him harassing them.


Greylag goslings sheltered under their mother's wings.


A Greylag has stolen the foolishly sited Coot nest to use as a daybed.


The three Egyptian teenagers two of which are blond played around at the Lido. They are still surprised by the way their wings have grown, and keep trying them out though they aren't going to get airborne for some time.


An Egyptian intruded on to the awning of the small electric boat, which Grey Herons regard as their property.


A Mandarin drake at the Vista posed impressively for the benefit of his mate.


The Grey Wagtails were busy catching insects in the Italian Garden. They fly right out of the park across the Bayswater Road, and it seems that their nest is somewhere near Lancaster Gate Tube station.


A Dunnock foraged in the grass under the Henry Moore sculpture.


A Blackcap looked out from the shade in a tree near the Lido.


Neil was in Brompton Cemetery and found a Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding a chick in an ash tree a short way southeast of the chapel.


The Ceanothus bushes in the Rose Garden are past their best, and the Honeybees and other species have switched to the neighbouring Mexican Orange, which previously they had ignored. It seems to provide them with plenty of pollen.


A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee preferred a purple Cranesbill flower.

6 comments:

  1. The Giant Hogweed is back just near Peter Pan - and it's spread. Grrrrr.

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    1. Yes, I saw it too. When it first appeared, dangerously protruding from the railings, I warned the gardeners about it and advised them to remove it before it set seed. Did they? Of course not.

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    2. It's the same everywhere. It's exhausting.

      I am torn. Sometimes I think goslings are the cutest, but then I see a cygnet and my doubts are immediately dispelled.

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    3. And don't forget baby grebes. Lucky there isn't a beauty contest. They cause wars.

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  2. The park seems like a mighty creche at the moment- good to see so many youngsters. I was sad to read yesterday the only Oystercatcher chick at the London Wetland Centre was predated by a Black-headed Gull. Nature I know, but I believe the first time the species has attempted to breed there. Waders rarely succeed breeding there, apart from the odd Lapwing chick, as there's so much predation pressure from gulls, corvids & Herons.

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    1. Sad to hear about the Oystercatcher chick. But of course the park here is no safe haven, with more than its share of gulls, crows and herons, not to mention murderous swans killing their own kind. The success of the Egyptian Geese is entirely due to their fertility (something noticed by the ancient Egyptians, whose hieroglyph of an Egyptian Goose means 'son').

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