There are two Grey Heron chicks in the nest at the west end of the island. They could be seen with some difficulty and at a distance from the far side of the half-timbered boathouse.
I was only looking for them from this distant spot because the boathouse is being repaired and I couldn't get to the nearer viewing place I used yesterday, but actually there was a better view of the nest. The workmen are making a coffer dam from heavy tarpaulin so that they can pump out the water around the foundations and inspect them.
The Little owlets at the Serpentine Gallery could be seen from directly below.
Their mother was on a high branch too, but a bit easier to photograph.
This is the male owl of the pair at the Round Pond.
A Wren in the Flower Walk was in its usual state of furious indignation at a predator somewhere.
The original pigeon-killing Lesser Black-Backed Gull has been spending less time in his old place near the Dell restaurant. But today he was back and had caught a Feral Pigeon with the skill of long practice.
The Coots nesting on the post at Peter Pan are keeping their nest in good shape in spite of their chicks having long since left it. They might even have time to breed again when the chicks are more independent. Coots are unstoppable.
The female Mute Swan near the Lido was teaching her cygnets the swans' favourite game of blocking the path so that people have to go round.
The combined Canada Goose families from the Serpentine had come under the bridge on to the Long Water.
The Egyptians who lost a gosling to a gull yesterday were keeping an extra careful watch on their six remaining young.
The eldest young Egyptian preened its shining new wing feathers. They have iridescent secondaries as ducks do but geese don't, but both sexes are the same colour which is characteristic of geese.
A female Pochard preened and flapped on the edge of the Serpentine.
A Blue-Tailed Damselfly basked on a dead iris leaf in the Italian Garden.
Two good butterfly pictures by Mark Williams. The Large Skipper was near Peter Pan.
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This Marbled White was at the Welsh Harp, where there are a lot of them, at the moment. They are less common in the park. I've seen one but never got a picture.
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The ambulance helicopter landed next to the Albert Memorial so that the crew could attend to a casualty in Kensington High Street, later taken to nearby St Mary's by road. Here it is taking off again.
Just to follow up a conversation that you were having with Ulrike yesterday. I work in Westminster and for the last two years have had the privilege of observing a pair of herring gulls nesting on a chimney stack on a Peabody building. I can see the nest and chicks easily from my office window. Last year they fledged 2 young, and they’ve had two more this year.
ReplyDeleteIt's odd that Herring Gulls should be so much more successful as an urban species than the other large Larus gulls, which are very similar in other ways.
DeleteSurely it comes back to the worm dance, which Herring Gulls can always fall back on, and perhaps they have just the right combination of weight and leg length to do it effectively in varied conditions. Perhaps this lies behind their divergence from Lesser Black-backs in the first place. I once watched several gull species on a north London sports ground in winter and a Great Black-back present did nothing but try to parasitise other gulls for worms, but it can't have been unaware of their techniques. Jim
DeleteMaybe. I have seen LBBs do the worm dance occasionally, apparently well. Kleptoparasitism is a successful strategy anywhere -- for example our government.
DeleteHi Ralph, I have been wondering what is going to happen to the pair of swans who have usurped onto the gravel bank on the Long Water and have threatened the rule of the longstanding dominant male. Today I saw the curious site of the old dominant male and the insurgent male in cordial relationship with each other and swimming side by side for the best part of five minutes while their spouses looked after their respective offspring a little distance apart. Seems very out of characer for the dominant male to tolerate this kind of incursion and I wonder how you think this might end?
ReplyDeleteI don't think those two male swans were in cordial relationship. I think they were having a parallel faceoff, each trying to dominate the other.
DeleteThe pair from the gravel bank have lost a cygnet and now only have three. Are there attacks that we don't see?
I love how the female swan is teaching her kids the way of swans everywhere: we give way for no one.
ReplyDeleteGlad Pigeon Killer is back to its usual devices. Too bad for the pigeons though.
Tinúviel
The swans rule the park, and they know it.
DeleteAnd Pigeon Killer knows he's the best looking gull in the park. He spends hours titivating his immaculate plumage, and always washes the blood off his face after a meal.
The Little Owls are looking very healthy.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was younger that downland was the place to see Marbled Whites. It's amazing how they have spread & are now pretty common in places around London. They seem to be in good numbers in the meadows around here.
On Monday I was leading a wildflower walk in Margravine Cemetery & was surprised to see they had a good population of them there too along with the numerous Meadow Browns, Small skippers & a single Ringlet. Hopefully more will reach your patch soon!
There are usually Small Skippers in the scrubby bits of the Meadow where there is quite a lot of ragwort. Must go up there and see what else I can find.
DeleteHi Ralph, there was a swan tucked up in the bushes near the bridge/ underpass intersection opposite side of serpentine lido/cafe. Looked quite sick and not quite right. Any idea what’s going on?
ReplyDeleteMay have been chased ashore by the dominant swan. It should be able to get back in a quiet moment.
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