Saturday 5 June 2021

The pair of Cetti's Warblers that have been in the park for several months have nested near the bridge and there is at least one chick. These are very hard birds to photograph as they lurk deep in the undergrowth, but Neil got a good picture of one ...


... and also a hasty shot of the chick when it appeared for a moment, and I have combined this with a sound recording I made of it calling.


Update: after hearing the recording Neil told me he had heard that call coming from two places in the bushes, so there must be at least two chicks.

A family of Long-Tailed Tits moved up the edge of the Long Water. The young ones were not clamouring for food, and I think they are already feeding themselves.


An adult preened in a tree.



A Goldcrest sang in a cedar at the edge of the Rose Garden.


Three more photographs by Neil: a Chaffinch near the Albert Memorial which nearly came to his hand -- no doubt it will soon ...


... the first picture this year of a young Carrion Crow, still with baby blue eyes ...


... and two Red Kites over the leaf yard.


A Jay buzzed a Grey Heron on the roof of the loggia in the Italian Garden. There is probably a pair of Jays nesting nearby.


One of the young herons in the second nest on the island was panting in the heat.


A Lesser Black-Backed Gull grabbed a crayfish in the shallow water at the edge of the Serpentine. It took its prey ashore, ripped off the claws and swallowed the rest whole. (This is not the famous pigeon-eating gull, who was hunting somewhere else.)


The single Great Crested Grebe chick on the Long Water was with one parent while the other found a fish for it. The Mute Swan family with four cygnets cruised past.


An Egyptian Goose shooed off a Coot.


A family of Greylag Geese sat obstinately in the middle of the Serpentine Road while the Saturday crowds went past.


A Small White butterfly was well camouflaged on a Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantina) in the Rose Garden.


A Honeybee browsed on Forget-Me-Nots.


Tom was at Thursley Common and got a good picture of a male Dartford Warbler.

5 comments:

  1. I love how distinctly the reddish eye-ring can be seen in hte picture. Warblers are so adorable.

    Remarkable archievement to be able to photograph, and record, not only a Cetti's warbler, but also its chicks! Congratulations to both.

    That Greylag family are my idols. "We move for no one".

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    1. Even more impressive blocking is done by the moulting swans on the path next to the bridge. It's sometimes impossible to get past them even on foot.

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  2. Excellent news that Cetti's have bred in the park.

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    Replies
    1. News in later that there is more than one chick.

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