Yesterday Neil found two Whinchats on Buck Hill, though he could only get a very distant view of these shy birds. Today they had crossed the road to the Meadow, where there is scrubby grass with taller plants for them to perch on so they can get a good view.
While I was looking for them a flock of Long-Tailed Tits passed through a lime tree ...
... bringing with them several Blue Tits ...
... and a Chiffchaff. These aren't good pictures but it was pleasing to see them hunting together.
I went past the bush at the Mound Gate where Neil had been feeding a Chaffinch yesterday, and when it saw me it immediately came out looking expectant. It seemed content when given a shelled peanut, which was all I had. I've never had any dealings with this bird before. It's a quick learner.
The Great Tits in the Flower Walk make their wants very plain.
The Robins here have started singing again after their late summer break, though they aren't yet in full song.
Several Great Spotted Woodpeckers were calling from trees around the Long Water. This is one near the Queen's Temple.
A Jackdaw bathing on the gravel strip got a shower from a Canada Goose.
The last picture I put up of the Cormorants at Peter Pan had a row of 11 of them. Today there were 16 on the posts, as well as others elsewhere on the lake.
The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull shared his latest kill with his mate, but the young gull which is probably theirs got chased away.
Just along the shore some unpleasant person had dumped a load of curry and left the containers. Some Mute Swans poked uncertainly at the disgusting mess.
The latest young Grey Herons are now out of their nest on the island, and today one of them was on the shore making a loud fuss about something. And adult, probably its parent, was nearby but taking no notice.
A close-up of the young one.
There are already two families of Moorhens near the island, and now it looks as if a third pair is making a nest in one of the wire baskets.
Good to see Whinchats at Buck Hill. Some very good numbers of these passing through London in recent days & have found some local birds. Normally I see more Wheatears but have only seen one so far this autumn.
ReplyDeleteCertainly a good number of Cormorants again. Must be plenty of larger fish again.
I hope the Whinchats stay for a few days. Parts of Buck Hill and the Meadow are ideal for them, with few humans and plenty of tall dead fennel and yarrow stems in the long grass for them to perch on while looking for the abundant insects.
DeleteCormorants are now going to be massacring the fish in the lake all autumn, until they reach the point of diminishing returns some time in early winter. It's not a healthy cycle on a small shallow lake.
Gorgeous picture of the Whinchats. They are such handsome birds.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the small birds tell each other about the tall kind man giving out peanuts. It certainly looks as if they are sharing knowledge and alerting others to your kind offices!
Tinúviel
I think word gets around the small birds. But I know for certain that it does among corvids and gulls, which see and copy the successful strategies of their fellows.
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