Friday 24 December 2021

It was the turn of the female Little Owl to shelter in the old squirrel drey on Buck Hill.


The rowan trees were full of Redwings again.


A lot of migrant Blackbirds have arrived, and there were at least six in the Rose Garden. Here are three of them looking for worms.


No Fieldfares here so far, but Tom was at Rainham Marshes and shot a video of several in a bush.


A Great Spotted Woodpecker beside the Long Water probed a rotten branch for insects until a piece fell off and knocked it out of the tree. It was unhurt.


A Jay waiting for a peanut put its crest up.


A Carrion Crow bathing at the Vista shook itself dry.


Andy Williams the Kensington Gardens manager sent me this photograph of an unusual visitor to the Flower Walk, a Pheasant. The picture was taken by one of the gardeners, but I don't know who.


Some years ago there was a long staying Pheasant beside the Long Water.

Also in the Flower Walk, the confident Coal Tit on the corkscrew hazel bush ...


... and a Robin on a branch below.


A flock of Long-Tailed Tits went along the edge of the Long Water.


A pair of Pied Wagtails are now often seen by the small boathouses. This is the female.


A Herring Gull found a stick in the lake and pecked algae off it. The stick seemed to be a toy as well as a snack.


The Grey Heron in the Dell is pleased that the waterfall is working properly again and it can stand in its favourite place enjoying the flow of water over its feet.


A pair of Great Crested Grebes were looking at a nest site against a wire basket on the island, and had already poked some rubbish through the mesh hoping some of it would stick.


This young grebe at the outflow of the Serpentine looks like one of the teenagers from the Long Water. The other one prefers to stay with its parents.


A splendid picture by Tom of a large flock of Dunlins rising over the river wall at Rainham. I think the birds on the left are Lapwings.


I wish a very happy Christmas and a much improved New Year to all readers.

4 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas, Ralph and all friends!

    Let me please take the chance to thank Ralph for helping me to hold on to sanity during a very trying year. Without the daily dose of happiness Ralph provides, life would be much more inhospitable.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind words. Writing the blog keeps me sane too, or at least as sane as I'm going to get.

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  2. Wishing you a happy Christmas and tan you for your blog - a daily joy.
    Francesca

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