The two young Grey Wagtails and their mother, last seen several weeks ago at the Lido restaurant, have turned up on a rock beside the Dell waterfall. This is exactly the kind of place that Grey Wagtails like most: running water and a plentiful supply of midges flying over the stream.
The familiar Robin with a broken toe that has healed crooked was waiting beside the Long Water, hoping for a pine nut. I had a hard time feeding it ...
... because the Starlings from the nest site in the Buck Hill shelter had noticed, and were swooping on everything. Beautiful as they are, they are a real nuisance when you are trying to feed small birds.
Several Long-Tailed Tit families were circulating around the lake.
The single Great Crested Grebe chick, not seen for several days, reappeared on the far side of the Long Water.
You can get a top view of the grebes' nest at the bridge looking down from the parapet. This promises to be interesting when the eggs hatch.
The Coots from the nest on the post at Peter Pan have returned their chicks from the safety of the branch at the edge to the exposed nest -- a bad move as the chicks are still small, but you can't argue with Coots.
The Coots at the bridge continue their tricky juggling act of feeding the two surviving chicks ...
... and looking after their second clutch of eggs.
The Black Swan has joined the mob of moulting swans on the north side of the Serpentine by the Triangle car park. When its second set of flight feathers emerges, they will still have black tips. The third set, next year, will be all white.
Sixteen Greylag goslings from four broods, one of ten and the others of two each, were all together on the new turf at the east end of the Serpentine.
The single surviving gosling belonging to the Canadas, and thought to be adopted from another brood (their own goslings were all taken) was thought to be a Greylag taken on by accident. But now it's grown a bit more it's getting unmistakable Canada markings.
One of the young blond Egyptians displayed well developed wings. I haven't seen it actually flying yet, but I think it can.
There is a lot of Salvia of various species in the park, and all of it is attractive to bees.
So are Hawksbeard ...
...and Mock Orange.
You probably think I photograph too many Buff-Tailed Bumblebees, but I find these flying teddy bears irresistible.
Can't have too many teddies.
ReplyDeleteI concur. Teddies and Owls make live much better. I think I read somewhere that Bumblebees can fly because they don't know they shouldn't be able to fly. I like that, as it fits them perfectly.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see the Grebe chick in a fair way to getting all grown up. When will we be out of danger?
I feel for the poor crooked-toe Robin. I hope he got its pine nut in the end.
Bumblebees fly by generating vortices with their wings. For decades aerodynamicists ignored vortices (and much else). They should have read Descartes.
DeleteThe most dangerous time for young Great Crested Grebes is when they are newly independent and have to complete the fishing skills which they have partly learnt by copying their parents, or starve.