Thursday 23 December 2021

A flock of Redwings was eating the fruit in one of the rowan trees on Buck Hill.

Both Little Owls could be seen at different times though there was not much of a sight of the male, just one eye looking out from a heap of leaves. You can tell he's the male by his big eyebrows.

As darkness was falling the female came out on a branch, waiting for everyone to go away so that she could start hunting.

Tits were coming out to be fed on the corkscrew hazel bush in the Flower Walk. A Coal Tit perched on the top ...

... a Great Tit looked out from among the curly twigs ...

... and a Blue Tit retired to a bush at the back to eat a pine nut.

A Robin came out on the railings. It's not hand tame yet, but will take food from the ground.

A Blackbird stared from a flower bed in the Rose Garden.

A Pied Wagtail ran along the edge of the Serpentine near the small boathouses.

Now two pairs of Grey Herons are repairing last year's nests on the island.

A Black-Headed Gull struggled to swallow a large piece of bread.

The Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water were at the disputed Coot nest with one of their teenagers. The Coot had been pushed out into the lake.

The Egyptian Geese are establishing territories at the moment, and are very aggressive. Neil shot this video of two pairs trying to drown each other in front of Peter Pan.

The teenage cygnet which has been trying to join the four on the Long Water was being chased away again.

Gadwalls dabbled peacefully in fallen leaves under the parapet of the Italian Garden.

A small pomegranate bush behind the Big Bird statue has produced some fruit. Many of the branches seem to be dead, so perhaps it is making a final effort to reproduce before the whole bush goes the same way.

4 comments:

  1. Brave little pomegranate. For some reason I find its gallant effort to go above and beyond strangely moving. Its purpose in life is bearing fruit, and fruit it will bear for a last time.

    I'd say Egyptians were being naughty, but rather than naughty, they are positively murderous.

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  2. I ought to give that pomegranate a helping hand. It seems to be quite easy to grow them from seed.

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  3. Good to have a whole flock of Redwings now.

    I love the flowers on a Pomegranate. We used to have a couple as wall shrubs at a place I worked a couple of decades ago.

    Have a lovely Xmas Ralph & thanks for all the wonderful photos throughout the year.

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    1. It's the last pomegranate in the park, a dwarf shrub. The others were cut down by the dismal owners of the Lido restaurant to make room for a rusty old Citroen van selling gin. (That firm has now been bought out, but too late to save the shrubbery.) Time for a bit of guerrilla gardening to propagate these beautiful shrubs.

      A very happy Christmas to you, and to all readers of my meanderings.

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