Sunday 12 September 2021

This morning, as on the past two days, I found a Little Owl in the big horse chestnut tree next to the north end of the Serpentine Gallery.


But when I went back in the afternoon there were two of them, and it was just possible to get a video of both in the same frame.


It looks as if the first migrating Mistle Thrushes have returned. There were half a dozen on Buck Hill digesting rowan fruit before going back for another raid on the tree.


Two Carrion Crows enjoyed stolen bits of pizza at the Dell restaurant.


A Goldcrest hopped around in a yew tree next to the bridge.


A Long-Tailed Tit and a Blue Tit rummaged in an abandoned Magpie nest in the nearby holly tree, searching for insects.


Another Blue Tit was digging insects out of the dead tree across the path ...


... and a flock of Long-Tailed Tits gathered to to cross the gap in the trees at the Vista.


The female Peregrine was on the tower.


The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull had finished his lunch and decided it was time for a preen. As the smartest gull on the lake he is very particular about his appearance.


Mateusz rescued a young Herring Gull with an injured leg. Here it is on the platform of Bluebird Boats waiting for Alberto to attend to it.


The Great Crested Grebes from the east end of the island and their single chick had a territorial dispute with a single grebe from the west end, advancing, diving, going back under water and advancing again. Both parties know that the border is halfway along the island and it wasn't going to come to a fight, but their rights must be maintained.


The family on the Long Water were having a quiet time.


Two Moorhen teenagers stood on the dead willow near the Italian Garden.


Mateusz says that the number of Turkish Crayfish in the lake, which has been very high recently, is falling and he has seen dead ones. He thinks they are being poisoned by the bloom of blue-green algae.


A Hornet rested for a moment on a bramble leaf near the bridge.

2 comments:

  1. It's so endearing to watch the Grebe chick trying to learn the proper grebe fighting technique from its parents.

    Two Owls! A blissful day!

    We are currently being overrun by wasps. They are everywhere, although they are quite calm and don't bite. Is the same thing happening in London?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, there are lots of wasps here too. The gardeners clearing the scrub along one side of the Long Water found half a dozen underground nests.

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