A Great Tit in the Flower Walk was looking harassed as his insatiable fledgling ...
... kept flapping its wings and demanding more and more food.
The Blue Tit that comes to my hand is also looking a bit worn.
A Wren near the Bridge scolded a Magpie.
Neil got a good picture of a Dunnock here.
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A young Grey Wagtail hunted along the edge of the Serpentine next to the weir, where there is a secluded ledge away from human disturbance.
Moorhens are certainly nesting inside the weir. I wasn't sure, but today I saw one carrying a bit of grass inside.
A House Martin scooted over the water.
Their nests inside the plasterwork of the Kuwaiti Embassy are mostly hard to see, but there is a large and visible one on the side facing the park, the fourth hole from the corner.
A Starling had been washing at the Lido restaurant, and dried itself on the railings.
A Grey Heron stood in the Chinese privet tree at the northwest corner of the bridge. There has been a pair here making on-and-off attempts to nest, and once I saw them mating in this tree. But, typically of the herons in the park, they seem to take an age making up their minds to nest.
The eldest Egyptian teenager has been on its own for some time. I think its parents abandoned it because they had only one left and they intended to nest again in the hope of getting more. Anyway, it is doing perfectly well growing up by itself.
A single Red-Crested Pochard drake cruised past the Vista. They used to be frequent visitors from St James's Park, where there is a small colony, but seldom come over now.
Mark Williams photographed two brand new Canada goslings in St James's Park.
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Two Six-Spot Burnet Moths clung to a grass seed head near the Rudolf Steiner bench. They have six spots on each side, unlike ladybird species where the total number of spots is counted.
A Blue-Tailed Damselfly perched on a leaf in the Italian Garden.
The clumps of Stachys byzantina ('Lamb's Ears') in the Rose Garden are thronged with bees, mostly Honeybees and Buff-Tailed Bumblebees.
I'm exhausted just looking at the fledgling. No wonder the poor Great Tit is looking bewildered.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if time passes more slowly for Herons. They do everything so slowly, and perhaps so considerately.
Tinúviel
I think birds sense the passage of time very differently from us. They have much faster reactions, so that a thrown nut floats towards them in a leisurely way and they can catch it easily. But when nesting they can go into a doze for hours at a time; if they didn't, hours would seem like days to them.
DeleteGood to see the House Martins still thriving in such an urban area still. I saw about 20 which breed near Ruislip Lido yesterday morning- the only colony I'm familiar with near me. In recent weeks when I've been in northern Greece & also Albania House Martins & Swallows were everywhere in the hundreds-how different to the situation here in the UK.
ReplyDeleteI can see at least one Vestal Bumblebee on the Stachys too. Of course this plant is a real favourite of the Wool Carder Bee, which strips hairs from the leaves. I haven't seen one yet this summer so maybe yet to emerge. Quite aggressive to other bees.
Have you visited the House Martin colony on Rossmore House, west of Regent's Park, corner of Rossmore Road and Park Road? I haven't been there for a few years. Last time I found it badly damaged by redecoration to the outside of the building, but the birds would have been able to rebuild assuming the weather was right for mud.
DeleteFor news of the Wool Carders, you have probably already seen today's blog post.