The Peregrines have taken to perching on the jib of the tallest crane on a building site southeast of the park. The crane was in use when I photographed the female here, but that didn't seem to bother her.
The photographer of this fine shot of a Peregrine having breakfast on a nearby hotel didn't want to give his name.
Her mate was on the usual ledge on the barracks. He can catch all the pigeons he wants if he gets hungry.
Both Little Owls were in the horse chestnut tree by the Serpentine Gallery. This is the female.
The male was hard to see through the leaves.
A Wren stared suspiciously from a bramble.
I know we've had videos of Starlings bathing before, but they are irresistible.
The Grey Heron who hangs around the Dell restaurant is now standing menacingly on the umbrellas.
The Great Crested Grebes at the Serpentine island took a moment off from feeding their chicks -- but one of the chicks wouldn't stop begging.
Later I saw one of them being given a fair-sized carp.
One of the parents on the Long Water had a flap.
A fox cub dozed on the gravel edge of the pond dipping site on the Long Water -- which after its expensive construction has never been used by humans, though the foxes find it an ideal place to drink and bask.
A Speckled Wood butterfly rested for a few seconds on a leaf in the Dell before flying off.
A single pretty Field Scabious flower has come up beside Rotten Row, probably from a seed dropped by a bird.
Tom was at Rainham Marshes, where he got a good shot of a male Bearded Tit ...
... and a Whinchat.
Wrens are so comically ferocious. The little tyrants, as Greeks would call them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever seen a peregrine perching on a crane in use. She must be quite a self-possessed bird to be so unfazed.
I imagine the Heron's menace involves hurling projectiles, that is, droppings, on unsuspecting passers by. How little it weighs - it hardly makes a dent in the umbrella.
I think the Peregrine may have enjoyed being moved slowly around, a good way of getting a view of the streets and any unwary pigeons.
DeleteAn adult Grey Heron's weight ranges from just over 1 kilo to 2, about the same as a Mallard. They are mostly feathers.
That's not the old girl, Ralph - have a careful look at her breast pattern next time you get the chance.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering where the other peregrine that was in that neck of the woods in August went - suspect driven off by the old male.
I couldn't tell anything about the one on the crane from that distance with the light behind it. But certainly the one on the hotel cornice doesn't look like one of ours. I am told that the hotel was not far from the crane. That would put it on the border of the territories of our pair and the pair on the Victoria Tower.
DeleteAmazing that the Peregrine stays put as the crane moves. Always good to see them.
ReplyDeleteLovely shot of Tom's of the Bearded Tit.
The Bearded Tits at Rainham are extremely hard to photograph, as they only appear for a fraction of a second anywhere in a large patch of concealing reeds. Tom will have spent a lot of time and effort in getting that picture.
Delete