Wednesday 29 September 2021

It was a windy day, and the birds were keeping to the inside of the trees to avoid being buffeted. But in the holly trees near the bridge it was still possible to see a Chiffchaff ...


... and a Long-Tailed Tit.


The holly berries are still not fully ripe, but that doesn't stop Wood Pigeons which will eat any fruit, no matter how green and hard.


A Robin perched securely on a thick branch in the Rose Garden.


On Buck Hill, a Mistle Thrush reached out of a rowan tree ...


... while a young Blackbird looked for fallen fruit on the ground below.


A Little Owl, I think the female of the pair, was in the top of the horse chestnut tree by the Serpentine Gallery.


A young Grey Heron was fishing, or trying to fish, on the gravel strip on the Long Water. It made a lunge but only came up with a bit of algae.


This young Moorhen in the Dell has been sitting on its parents' nest for several days, not wanting to leave a comfortable and sheltered place.


Two Shoveller drakes on the Long Water revolved together, each picking up the little water creatures stirred up by the other. You often see pairs doing this, but there is a shortage of females so males have to dance together.


They are coming back into breeding plumage, but they have been beaten by a Mandarin drake on the far side of the lake, already in his exotic finery.


Some of the Tufted drakes are well advanced ...


... as well as Red-Crested Pochards ...


... and Mallards.


The perilously leaning Lombardy Poplar at Peter Pan has a new crop of Poplar Fieldcap mushrooms.


This is said to be a wood-rotting fungus, but it's only a matter of time before gravity brings the tree down into the lake, rot or no rot. Its roots are already heaving up the path on the land side.

2 comments:

  1. I know you have said the merit of the background colours belong to the berries, but I have to insist: what lovely combination! THe Long Tailed Tit looks even more adorable than usual against that setting.

    I swear, Wood Pigeons must be bulimic.

    Shovellers are always such a funny sight. I havee never seen them revolving by the dozens. It must be a wonderful show.

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    Replies
    1. Before the Wetland Centre was built farther up the river, we used to get a lot of Shovellers in winter, usually at least 50 and once 200. When there are large numbers they form a grand circle shovelling in each other's wake.

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