A sighting over Kensington Gardens by Richard Oxborough: a pair of we thought at first were White-Tailed Eagles. They were very high, so even his 600mm lens could only get record shots. However, they have now been identified as Common Buzzards, which are seen occasionally over the park.
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Richard also found the male Little Owl near the Speke obelisk retrieving a rat which it had cached in a hole in an oak tree.
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It's quite a large rat for a Little Owl to take. Several years ago, when we had our reliable pair of Tawny Owls, the London Mammal Society analysed their pellets and found that, while their diet consisted mainly of House Mice and Wood Mice, they were also taking small Brown Rats.
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I didn't see the owl at the obelisk today, though while I was looking for it I found a Chiffchaff in an oak tree ...
... a Jay under another oak burying acorns ...
... and a Carrion Crow putting on its best innocent look to get a peanut.
Later I did find the teenage Little Owl near the Round Pond, well hidden in the small lime tree where I saw it on Saturday.
A flock of Long-Tailed Tits gathered in a bush beside the Vista before flying across the gap together.
A Robin in the Flower Walk posed against a bright autumnal background.
Starlings waited in the hawthorn tree on the Dell restaurant terrace. They could have eaten the ripe fruit but they wanted pizza and chips.
An old friend returns: the Czech Black-Headed Gull ET05.589 is back on the Serpentine. It was last seen here on 16 February.
Cormorants preened on the posts in front of the statue of Peter Pan. One of them was feeling hot and panted to cool down.
A pair displayed on the fallen poplar on the far side of the Vista ...
... from which they were quickly frightened away by three oafish young men in a pedalo who had forced their way under the chain on to the Long Water. Later they landed on the Mute Swans' nesting island. I reported them to the park staff and saw one of the boat people heading out in a power boat to deal with them.
Speaking of swans, there has been no change in the situation on the Long Water: just one male present, not counting the pair in the Italian Garden.
The young Grey Heron in its usual place on the shore near the island had a confrontation with two swans.
A young Moorhen picked tiny things, perhaps insects or larvae, off the water at the Vista.
I don't usually photograph squirrels, but sometimes you just have to.
Certainly an ideal day for soaring raptors. Must have been a real frisson of excitement when you thought they might have been eagles. Buzzards are pretty common out here in the suburbs now, though outnumbered by Red Kites around me. a great sighting for such a central location.
ReplyDeleteA rat is quite an impressive capture for a Little Owl!
Yes, the wing pattern does look more eagly than buzzardy in the photograph, and young White-Tailed Eagles don't have white tails. My first thought was Buzzard, but I allowed myself to be persuaded.
DeleteCan't be sure that the Little Owl actually caught and killed that rat. But congratulations to him if he did.
I don't like them too much, but those two are cute.
ReplyDeleteIt's incredible that the Little Owl should have caught that rat. Not even cats will dare sometimes.
Sorry to say I immediately thought 'buzzard' as well. Common as dirt, here. White tailed eagle would have been so exciting.
Tinúviel
Yes, I was carried away by an exciting claim and should have been properly sceptical. But I am inclined to stick my neck out after the time when I saw the famous White-Winged Black Tern on the Serpentine, identified it correctly, and said nothing because I though I must have been imagining things. So someone else reported it and twitchers crowded in.
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