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.
The Great Tit looks happy enough, but the poor Wagtail looks absolutely miserable.
ReplyDeleteSomeone ought to compile a Crow-Human, Human-Crow dictionary. It would be a priceless service to mankind and crowkind.
But remember that Bernd Heinrich spent years with Ravens and never discovered what they were saying.
DeleteI am in conversation with 2 crows on Chelsea Embankment.
DeleteCrows caw in sequential patterns which they lengthen to create ??meaning.
They converse, manipulate and reap rewards. My caws have no inherent meaning for this pair, but as arbitrary symbols they do communicate to them specific objects and actions on my part.
Thanks for the information. Hope your researches reveal more that the Ravens did to poor Heinrich. I think they may have refused to talk to him because he did behavioural experiments on them.
DeleteIt was certainly a day of contrasts- a wet start but then much of the day was unexpectedly fine.
ReplyDeleteSome fine close-ups-especially the Goldcrest as they rarely stay still & seeing the male Blackbird; a species I rarely gave a second look, but again I'm seeing very few at the moment, after an upturn in the summer. All the thrushes seem to be low key at the moment.
Yes, there's a severe lack of them here too. No sign of autumn migrants reaching central London yet.
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