A Redwing ate rowan fruit in the trees on Buck Hill.
The male Little Owl was calling to its mate, but today I didn't get a sight of either of them. I still don't know where their nest hole is. There doesn't seem to be a usable hole in the broken lime tree where they shelter in the squirrel drey.
A Wood Pigeon eating elderberries lost its balance and fell out of the tree. It decided it was easier to nibble leaves on the ground.
A group of Long-Tailed Tits were chasing each other madly near the Italian Garden. One paused on a twig for just long enough for a picture.
It was the day of my monthly bird count and I didn't get many pictures, so I am indebted to Neil for supplying these four excellent ones.
A Great Tit ...
... and a Blue Tit in the wintersweet bush near Mound Gate (which is the southernmost gate into Kensington Gardens from the West Carriage Drive).
The bold Coal Tit in a winter-flowering cherry in the Flower Walk ...
... and a Rose-Ringed Parakeet wantonly destroying the blossom, which it didn't even eat.
A Pied Wagtail hunted along the edge of the lake at the Lido ...
... and the Grey Wagtail was back at the Dell restaurant.
A young Herring Gull on the Long Water played with a plastic fork.
This Common Gull perches on the same notice beside the Serpentine day after day.
The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull cruised around looking for his lunch ...
... and a Feral Pigeon did its best to look like a gull, which I don't think fooled him for a moment.
Two pairs of Egyptian Geese had a noisy territorial territorial dispute at the Round Pond, with the pair on the left gradually driving the other pair back.
The pigeon could have fooled me from the distance.
ReplyDeleteHow did the bird count go? Was it successful, or was it very boring?
I am always amazed by how you manage to get notorious energy balls such as Long Tailed Tits to pose still for a picture. It must be 'bat and eyelid and you miss it' moment.
Superb picture of the Redwing against the red berries. A study in different shades of cream, brown, and red.
The bird count was successful: I counted the birds. But it gets more and more boring every time I do it -- I've been counting since 2004 -- and I heartily wish I could find someone enthusiastic enough to take it over. Also I couldn't wear gloves because I had to work the phone, and when I got home my hands were so frozen that I couldn't turn the front door key. 'Smartphone gloves' with special coatings on the fingertips don't give fine enough control to work a tally app, where you sometimes have to write in figures.
DeletePhotographing Long-Tailed Tits is largely a matter of taking lots of pictures and hoping one comes out all right.