Saturday 24 July 2021

The Little Owls are ranging over a wide area, with one between the Speke obelisk and the Bayswater Road ...

... and another calling from a horse chestnut tree south of the leaf yard -- I couldn't get a picture.

The young Carrion Crows on Buck Hill are still calling noisily to be fed.

A Feral Pigeon drank from a puddle left by a morning shower.

A Herring Gull dismantled a crayfish.

The oldest Great Crested Grebe chick on the Long Water preened and flapped. It seems to be more or less independent already, though it's still only a teenager. There are lots of small fish, which helps.

Another look at the Great Crested Grebe family at the island with four chicks.

A Coot brought reeds to enlarge its nest in the Italian Garden fountains.

A Grey Heron used the Coot nest near the bridge as a fishing platform.

A Moorhen in the Dell washed and preened on a rock.

The Bar-Headed x Greylag hybrid has acquired a taste for peanuts and now follows me around. It had a drink to wash them down.

A Grey Squirrel ate some very unripe hawthorn fruits. With their chisel-sharp teeth they can tackle things that even the all-devouring Wood Pigeons can't manage.

A Common Blue Damselfly perched on a grass stem.

This Wren in St James's Park is still feeding young. Thanks to Mark Williams for the photograph.

Two pictures from Rainham Marshes by Tom: a young Sedge Warbler ...

... and a young Bearded Tit.

2 comments:

  1. Where have the Little Owls been all this time? Could they have been in hiding? Or did they fly in from somewhere else?

    The teen Grebe shakes its head exactly like an adult would.

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    1. Little Owls have been seen in this place occasionally over the past year, but not by me. They are now more obvious because the pair has been been nesting, and this has started them calling to each other. It's always the sound that enables you to find these small, well camouflaged creatures.

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