A young Blackbird in a yew tree in the Flower Walk reached for an early fruit.
The spongy bark of a cork oak makes a comfortable perch for Great Tits ...
... and Coal Tits when they are waiting to come to my hand for food.
The Coal Tit ate a pine nut and came back for several more. Once they get to know you they are quite demanding.
A Jay collected several peanuts. They seem less troubled by the heat than other corvids, perhaps because of not being black.
A baking hot day doesn't stop male Feral Pigeons from running after females.
A pair at Peter Pan looked like established mates, but in fact the male had just knocked another male off the post.
Neil has definitely established that the third family of Little Owls, midway between the other two families, are a new set and not just some stragglers from one of the other families. Here are two of his pictures. The owlets are older than the other two broods and quite grown up in appearance, but still lack the white spots that adults have on their heads.
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One owlet could be seen near the Round Pond, and another flew into the nest hole as I arrived.
Their father is now usually in a tall lime tree.
This is one of the owlets at the Serpentine Gallery ...
... and its mother.
One of the young Grey Herons on the island was standing on the edge of the nest.
It turned round and flapped fully developed wings. They haven't yet climbed out of the nest. When they do, they take experimental jumps between branches as they learn to fly.
There were quite a few Lesser Black-Backed Gulls at Peter Pan. They may collect here to avoid the many Herring Gulls that dominate the Serpentine.
One of the Coot chicks from the bridge sheltered in the shade of the fallen willow.
The female Pochard and a Moorhen pair are constantly seen at the outflow of the Serpentine. I really don't know about the fate of the Pochard ducklings which were presumably washed over the weir. Moorhens, on the other hand, routinely nest below the weir. Their chicks are great climbers and will have no trouble getting out when they're ready to leave.
That's quite a collection of Lesser Black-backs!
ReplyDeleteFor a species that's supposed to be declining nationally, Little Owls seem to be doing well in the London area.
According to Thomas Bewick in his British Birds of 1798, Little Owls were found only in three places in Britain: Yorkshire, Flintshire and the London region. (And, living in Northumberland, he couldn't find a Little Owl to draw, so there is no engraving of one in his book.) So even before Little Owls were deliberately introduced in the 19th century there were some here.
DeleteI've never seen it suggested anywhere they are anything but introduced?
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a curious blind spot. I have the Bewick book, and that's what it says.
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