Friday 15 July 2022

A new wasp in the Rose Garden

The Little owlets aren't being fed much during the daytime when the park is open and their parents can't safely hunt on the ground. This one at the Serpentine Gallery was clearly hungry, and was chewing a branch. It would have to wait till dusk for a proper meal.


Its mother was on a nearby branch. I'm sure she does her best to feed her two owlets when the park closes and they seem healthy and active.


An owlet at the Round Pond was also waiting. I could hear another one in the next tree but it was hidden by leaves.


Their father was in the next tree, looking sleepy. He has stopped shouting at me.


A Wood Pigeon in the Flower Walk dug a hole in a clump of Lords and Ladies. Evidently it was looking for food, but I don't know what it was hoping to find.


A young Great Tit on a twig above was looking very dapper, unlike its parents made tatty by the long task of bringing up their young.


I've commented before on Feral Pigeons preferring mates of their own colour. The male black and white pigeon on the right has been courting this female for several days, but she doesn't seem impressed by him and keeps her distance.


Two pigeons beside the Serpentine had fallen victim to gulls. A Carrion Crow finished off the remains of one near the Dell restaurant.


There are still only a few Cormorants. These two were at the Serpentine island, and a third was fishing in the lake.


The Moorhen nest in the little stream in the Dell has been going for a fortnight, and with luck there should be some chicks in a week or so.


Two Red-Crested Pochard drakes crossed the Long Water.


Here is something I haven't seen before. This largish wasp, about ¾in (20mm) long, was on a miniature ergyngium in the Rose Garden. The purple sheen on its wings seemed to be its own colour and not a reflection of the surrounding flowers. As far as I can identify it, it's a Grass-Carrying Wasp maybe of the genus Isodontia


An ordinary Honeybee browsed on an ordinary dahlia, but it made quite a pretty snap.


I'm baffled by this thing in a flower bed in the Flower Walk that was attracting Honeybees. It looks like a small jar sealed with a cork and exuding honey or some sugary liquid. I didn't want to disturb the bees by digging it up, so it remains a mystery.


A Speckled Wood butterfly basked on a ivy leaf.


A male Black-Tailed Skimmer dragonfly perched on a reed stem to eat an insect it had just caught.


A pair mated on the railings.


The pomegranates beside the Diana fountain are developing well in the sunshine.

7 comments:

  1. When I was in St James’s Park the other day, I saw two crows finishing off the remains of a pigeon by the lake. I’m assuming that a gull was involved

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    1. There used to be a pigeon-killing LBB which operated near the bridge. Don't know whether it's still there.

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  2. Been birding at Hyde Park for the last couple of days and that place is quite rich gotta' admit. Your daily sightings are very helpful to say the least. Would love to meet-up with you tomorrow if you are going..

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    1. Will be, of course, Will keep a lookout for someone distinctly anonymous hiding under a bush.

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  3. Lovely Little Owl shots again. The male probably recognises now that you are relatively benign.

    A very handsome wasp- not a group I know much about.

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    1. I've had a suggestion that the wasp is I. mexicana, first seen in Greenwich in 2016. It looked like that to me too, but I didn't want to make a wild claim.

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  4. I vaguely remember hearing about that.

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