Sunday 31 October 2021

Another wet start to the day, but it soon cleared up. The Robin in the corkscrew hazel in the Flower Walk surveyed his territory from a dripping twig.


A Wren came out on a branch near the bridge ...


... and a Great Tit looked for insects in the dead tree.


There was a ringed Starling on a table at the Dell restaurant. No hope of reading it as the agile bird whizzed around looking for scraps.


A Carrion Crow dunked a morsel of food in the fountain in the Rose Garden.


A Herring Gull danced to bring up worms in the Diana fountain enclosure. The close shot gives a clear view of its little pattering feet.


Two Black-Headed Gulls had a disagreement at the Vista.


There were Cormorants everywhere -- flying up the Serpentine ...


... fishing in the Italian Garden fountains ...


... and forcing the teenage Mute cygnets to share their island.


A brisk breeze got up, encouraging swans to fly. A headwind reduces the exertion of a long takeoff run.


A Canada Goose enjoyed a splashy wash.


The blond male Egyptian Goose at the Triangle car park has reclaimed his wandering mate, and was standing next to her in a proprietorial attitude. However, the intruding male was glowering at the pair from a short distance way and clearly planning something.


A Gadwall stood under the parapet of the Italian Garden. These sober-suited birds have quite bright ginger and white patches on their wings.

Saturday 30 October 2021

It was a wet morning. A Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Serpentine looked bedraggled.

A Great Tit bathed in a puddle.

Rain makes no difference to Gadwalls.

When it stopped, two Greenfinches at the bridge ventured a few phrases of song.

A Chaffinch ...

... and a Robin came out of the bushes in the Rose Garden ...

... and a Blackbird came down for a drink in the fountain.

A Carrion Crow rattled in a copper beech behind the herbaceous borders. They make this call when feeling annoyed or aggressive.

Ahmet Amerikali got a picture of a Goldcrest here.

The marsh that has formed beside the Vista is steadily getting wetter, and now when it rains a small river flows over the paths. A Carrion Crow explored the mud.

A young Herring Gull on the Serpentine played with a stick.

A Cormorant caught small carp in one of the Italian Garden fountain pools.

A Great Crested Grebe chick on the Long Water collected a fish from a parent.

The female Wigeon cruised past Peter Pan. 

Friday 29 October 2021

A Blackbird ate the fruit of the yew tree on the corner of the Dell. All parts of the yew are poisonous except for the red aril (the juicy outside) of the fruit, but the 'stone' (which is actually a tiny and very hard cone) goes through the bird undigested and doesn't poison it.


The onset of autumn has reduced the number of insects and made the small birds hungry. A Great Tit near the bridge looked out of the red leaves of a euonymus bush near the bridge, expecting a pine nut ...


... and there was another in the holly above.


A Jay waited to be given a peanut.


The male Peregrine was on the barracks tower. There are no shortages for him, as the supply of Feral Pigeons is endless.


A Wren beside the Serpentine photographed by Ahmet Amerikali.


The two youngest Great Crested Grebe chicks on the Long Water are now as large as their parents, but still far from independent.


This year's young carp in the Italian Garden pools have now grown large enough to interest Cormorants.


The male Mute Swan who now permanently lives here posed grandly on the edge of a pool.


The Black Swan is now usually at the far end of the Serpentine, hoping to be given food by the diners on the Dell restaurant terrace.


A Tufted drake dived against a background of autumn leaves in the shallow water in front of Peter Pan.


A pair of Gadwalls fed side by side on the Long Water.


Ahmet found the female Wigeon here -- I had missed her from the Serpentine and not seen her for several days.


There are still Common Carder bees on the plumbago in the Rose Garden.


Tom was at Rainham Marshes and found a handsome Brambling on a hawthorn.

Thursday 28 October 2021

A Pied Wagtail ran up the edge of the Serpentine looking for insects. If you stand still they will come very close.

A Blackbird looked for worms in dead leaves at the edge of the Dell.

The yew tree at the lower corner of  the Dell is a regrowth from the roots of an old one. A Wood Pigeon perched on the stump.

The Coal Tit in the Flower Walk came down for a pine nut.

The Peregrine perching on the crane in Knightsbridge wasn't bothered by the crane being in use and swinging around.

The Rose Garden was full of families with children, and a Carrion Crow was a bit cautious about coming down the fountain for a drink.

Starlings and a Black-Headed Gull waited on the roof of the Lido restaurant for a chance to grab some leftovers.

A young Herring Gull played with a dead leaf.

All the posts at the island were occupied, so this Cormorant had to perch on a little stump.

Cormorants often perch on the tern raft on the Long Water, but you don't generally see Egyptian Geese using it. I hope they don't try to nest there, as this has caused serious complications when Canada Geese have used it and the goslings can't get over the edge.

A Greylag Goose finished washing with a tremendous flap.

A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee on the grass in the Rose Garden seemed inert, as if it had run out of energy.

But then it suddenly woke up, flew to a lavender flower, and started feeding.

Two Common Wasps were also on the grass having a dispute about something.

Another picture by Tom of the Dartford Warbler at Rainham Marshes. It had just found a caterpillar.

Wednesday 27 October 2021

Great Tits, a Blue Tit, a Coal Tit and Long-Tailed Tits darted around in the shrubbery near the bridge.


A Blue Tit was expecting a pine nut, but had to wait while I took its picture.


A Wren searched for insects in the dead tree.


There were Robins all along the Flower Walk.


The Grey Wagtail flew over several times. Here it is on a rail in the Italian Garden, one of its usual hunting stations.


A Starling shone in a sunny spell on a table at the Lido restaurant.


A Magpie also displayed its fine iridescence as it probed the bark of a tree for insects.


This is the pair of Magpies between the Henry Moore sculpture and the bridge, which have successfully raised several families in the past few years.


A Carrion Crow bathed in the Serpentine.


A Herring Gull snatched a hoverfly larva from the surface of the lake.


The Great Crested Grebe family on the Long Water were together under the fallen poplar.


Grebe supplements their diet of fish with the midges that fly low over the surface of the lake.


Fallen leaves are building up at the downwind edge of the lake. A Moorhen looked for anything edible that has blown in with them.


A pair of Egyptian Geese claimed the sawn-off poplar at Peter Pan as their territory.