The young Little Owl by the Round Pond had moved from its usual hole into the original nest tree, a long dead horse chestnut trunk that is completely hollow from top to bottom and has several entrance holes. It went inside before I could get any closer.
A Wren in the Flower Walk protested loudly about something. Wrens spend much of their lives in a state of furious indignation.
Two views of the confident Coal Tit in the Flower Walk that comes to take pine nuts from my hand.
Coal Tits are particularly fond of pine nuts and, when they can, live in the stone pines that provide them. But people have very odd views about what food to give birds. Not even Feral Pigeons would touch grated carrots. Luckily for them there were also some pellets of wild bird food on offer.
Another thoroughly disliked food is the Arab flatbread that people throw into the water. No bird will eat it, and it just disintegrates into a soggy mess.
A Carrion Crow enjoyed a wash in the little pool at the top of the Dell waterfall.
A Cormorant on a post at Peter Pan settled into a strange crouching posture.
A Great Crested Grebe was fishing near the island. I think they've abandoned any attempt at breeding again, and the one summer nest on the Long Water failed and has been abandoned. It's been a very bad year for them, for no clear reason as there are now lots of small fish.
The intruding Egyptian Goose at the Henry Moore sculpture is still refusing to go away, and the resident pair have stopped protesting at it and settled into a sullen stalemate.
The two Mute cygnets from the nesting island sprawled idly on a sunny Sunday afternoon, while the three from the nest on the gravel bank went over to the Serpentine to see if anyone would feed them.
There are now a few returning Shovellers on the Long Water, which stayed at a distance but at least this female displayed her iridescent green secondary feathers.
And there are several Red Crested Pochards, but these aren't migrants. They fly in, probably from St James's Park, whenever they feel the need for a change of scene.
The algae in the Italian Garden fountains attracted a good number of damselflies, all as far as I could see Common Blue ...
... and Small Red-Eyed. I still haven't found a Willow Emerald.
The red and yellow helenium in the Flower Walk was visited by an orange Hornet Hoverfly, which would have made a brilliantly coloured picture. But the creature refused to stop, so I had to settle for a Honeybee.
A tiny spider barely 3mm across crawled over the brake light of one of the gardeners' pickup trucks. Update: Jim has identified it as a Running Crab Spider.
Tiny balls of fury. I think it's their fury that keeps them going.
ReplyDeleteI would have imagined carrots, being so sweet, would be appealing to birds. Shows the extent of my ignorance!
Tinúviel
I think it's the wateriness of vegetables and some fruits that puts birds off. I've noticed that strawberries, initially attractive because they're red, are always rejected after one tentative peck. But it's hard to be sure, and probably tastes vary from one species to another.
DeleteRunning crab spider. Jim
ReplyDeleteThank you. Text amended.
Delete