Thursday 5 August 2021

The Sparrowhawks were flying around the park greenhouses calling to one another.  One perched in a windy treetop.


I couldn't find the Kestrel, but at one point a Hobby flashed through the trees.

The female Little Owl stared down from her nest tree. She is no longer worried by the camera.


A Herring Gull had difficulty swallowing a large crayfish, but managed. It's amazing to think that the muscles in its gizzard can break up this spiky morsel.


A Black-Headed Gull ate a smaller and softer-shelled crayfish without difficulty.


The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull had found a more nutritious meal in his usual place at the Dell restaurant.


A pair of Black-Headed Gulls moaned affectionately at each other and walked side by side. They have now mostly lost the dark head of their breeding plumage.


The three Great Crested Grebe chicks from the west end of the island are now noticeably larger. I put a 10-second countdown on this video because YouTube has difficulty with shots of moving water.


The teenager at the east end is now almost as large as its parents.


The number of Cormorants on the lake is increasing as this year's young fish grow large enough to interest them. There were four on the posts at the Serpentine island.


The Black Swan was dredging up algae at the edge of the lake.


Three Mute cygnets rested confidently in the middle of the Serpentine Road, expecting people to go round them.


Duncan Campbell, always on the lookout for interesting insects, photographed an Ornate-Tailed Digger Wasp (Cerceris rybyensis) attacking what he thinks is an Orange-Legged Furrow Bee (Halictus rubicundus).


A wood sculpture of dragonflies in the middle of the Meadow.


Tom was at Rainham, where he found a Common Lizard ...


... a Painted Lady butterfly on a buddleia flower ...


... and a Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria).

3 comments:

  1. Much as I dislike snakes, I have a soft spot for lizards. I find them endearing - I think it is because of Alice in Wonderland's Bill the Lizard, which I always adored.

    Lovely to see that The Little Owl is now unfazed by the camera. I hope it means she will be easier to photograph because she won't hide herself among the leaves.

    Swans, and Coots, have the correct attitude towards life.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some great insect shots. Particularly like Duncan's digger wasp shot. Lovely dragonfly bench too.

    I visited Ruislip Lido for a couple of hours yesterday morning & for the first time in a few months there were 4 Cormorant. Similar situation to yours. Last winter we had extraordinary numbers- almost a hundred at one point & watched groups shoaling the fish. Once most were eaten off they went.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We didn't have any more luck with the sprawk/s, after you left to find the kestrel. They kept flying around and around, beyond the foliage, then the rain came and we left.

    ReplyDelete