Two Goldcrests darted around in the yew tree at the southeast corner of the Dell. I couldn't get both of them in the same picture -- it's hard enough photographing one of these tiny restless birds.
A Pied Wagtail on the roof of the Serpentine Gallery eyed a passing wasp and decided it was better left alone.
A Carrion Crow had a wash at the Vista ...
... and flapped soggily into a tree to dry.
Someone has been feeding the crows here with bits of raw fatty meat, which seems excessive but the birds are delighted.
Two Feral Pigeons got strangely excited by finding a bit of bread.
The male Peregrine was on the tower, but flew off before I could get close enough for a picture. Later he landed on the crane in Knightsbridge.
The single Common Gull is still on the Long Water.
So is the female Wigeon, here seen distantly on the far side of the lake. So probably the one seen a few days ago by Joan Chatterley in Battersea Park is a different bird.
There were two pairs of Shovellers near the outflow of the Serpentine, not a place where they usually go as there is no cover. Here for a change is a female.
The Black Swan came on to the Long Water, where the Mute Swan who owns the place had just chased off all the other swans but his own mate and cygnets. Soon afterwards I found the Black Swan at the far end of the Serpentine, so there must have been a confrontation.
Grazing geese usually call for some time before taking off, in case the flock wants to follow them. In this case the others didn't, and the goose flew off on its own to join another flock elsewhere in the park.
A pair of Egyptian Geese preened their wings. The contrasting colours of the different tracts of feathers make it clear what a complex structure a wing is.
The pair of Great Crested Grebes at the bridge have time to relax now that their chick is grown up and fending for itself.
There were two large patches of mushrooms. These ones on Buck Hill are quite big, up to six inches across. I don't know what they are. They are under a horse chestnut tree about 50 yards up the hill from the Rudolf Steiner bench.
These are on the south shore of the Serpentine a short way east of the Lido, out in the open though the ground looks as if a tree stump has been removed. They look like some kind of ink cap.
I love me some pictures of Goldcrests. Lovely teeny tiny things, always on the move.
ReplyDeleteThat's weird how excited the Pigeons get. It's as if they had been given their favourite dessert.
Poor Greylag. No one paid any attention to its wish to have some company for the trip.
As far as I remember, the Greylag's calls were being answered from a distance, so it was going to meet another goose. But the distant calls were too faint to come out in the recorded sound. There are now little groups of geese all around the Serpentine.
DeleteDefinitely a different Wigeon, Ralph. Your Wigeon is female as you rightly say, but the previous photo was actually an eclipse drake, but didn't mention it at the time.
ReplyDeleteI'm no mycologist (leave that to Mario!), but agree you have a type of ink cap here.
Thanks. The picture of the female Wigeon in Collins is much too small and I'm never sure.
DeleteNo word yet from Mario, on whom I depend almost completely for identifying fungi, since I am only competent with the commoner edible types. At least I've not poisoned myself yet.