When the number of Cormorants on the lake gets really large ...
... they start fishing together in gangs. Thanks for Ahmet Amerikali for this picture.
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On the overcrowded island, a Cormorant and a Grey Heron did their best to ignore each other. Actually, since they have very different fishing methods, they seldom get in each other's way.
A teenage Great Crested Grebe has turned up unexpectedly on the Serpentine. It certainly wasn't hatched here.
It was fishing with great efficiency near the outflow. There were obviously a lot of fish here, and a Black-Headed Gull managed to snatch one just below the surface.
The Little Grebe is still on the Long Water. This is also a young one with faint traces of its juvenile head pattern.
Shovellers flew past Peter Pan.
The new pair of Mute Swans in the Italian Garden look well settled down together.
A pair of Black-Headed Gulls displayed to each other on the edge of the Serpentine.
There was a strong east wind. Here is the traditional picture of a Moorhen turning the wrong way and getting ruffled.
It was too windy for a Little Owl to venture out.
A Robin perched on a yew bush in the shelter of the shrubbery in the Rose Garden.
Long-Tailed Tits must keep hunting in all weathers. A flock was working along the back of the Lido.
A Chiffchaff near the bridge, photographed by Ahmet.
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If you give the Starlings at the Lido restaurant the least encouragement they will line up on your table looking expectant.
The tiny Yellow Fieldcap mushroom only lasts for a day, and fades within a few hours of coming up. But this morning I found one that had only just emerged, a bright lemon yellow.
Talk about the picture of ephemeral, literally!
ReplyDeleteThat flotilla of cormorants manages to look both serious business and comical at the same time. No mean feat.
What would we do without our traditional Moorhen Marilyn moment?
Tinúviel
I've seen a line of Cormorants stretching right across the lake, like the police searching a moor after some grisly murder. No wonder they hoover up almost all the fish in the lake.
DeletePlenty of Cormorants around in Richmond Park too. I had over 30 there yesterday. In fact many fish-eating birds with quite a few Great Crested Grebes, Herons & I saw 10 Little Egrets there, though 15 seen at dawn by another observer.
ReplyDeleteThe other day I mentioned the lack of thrushes- well 5 species yesterday (though only 2 Blackbirds!) but three figures of Song Thrush, Redwing & Fieldfare passing over plus 3 Mistle Thrush seen.
BTO yesterday mentioned a large departure of thrushes from the Continent. Looks as if they've arrived.
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