Friday 18 November 2022

Crows in love

A pair of Carrion Crows perched side by side on a dead tree ...


... and a Stock Dove on another.


You often see completely bronze Feral Pigeons in the park -- pigeon fanciers call them 'Reds' -- but the brown variation of the standard Rock Dove pattern is less common.


The female Peregrine was on the tower. One of the pair was seen earlier flying very high over Kensington Gardens.


One of the Coal Tits in the Flower Walk lurked in a buddleia bush ...


... and a Jay was expecting a peanut.


Starlings at the Lido restaurant waited for a chance to grab a snack.


A Herring Gull at the Dell restaurant waited on an umbrella ...


... then got too close for comfort.


A Black-Headed Gull hovered stationary in the breeze.


A Cormorant caught a perch under the Italian Garden ...


... where the Egyptian Geese in the Italian Garden posed obligingly for close-up portraits by Tom's friend Malachi.


The widowed female Mute Swan is still cruising up and down at the Vista, and still has the Long Water to herself but there is no pleasure in that now.


You wouldn't think a swan would find leathery plane leaves palatable, but at least they are chewy.


Two tree fungi which as usual I can't identify. I hope Mario can.



Update: Mario says that the first one is Splitgill Mushroom, Schizophyllum commune, and thinks that the second is a patch of old Shaggy Scalycap, Pholiota squarrosa, though he would have had to see it personally to be sure.

10 comments:

  1. Maybe it's like chewing gum for them?

    What a fine portrait of the Crows in love. They look gorgeous (it reminds me of that saying "Love is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction.").

    I'd give much to have a Herring Gull stalk my lunch like that!
    Tinúviel

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    1. Swans have serrated beaks, almost like teeth, and they do seem to like chewing tough things. I often see them eating reeds, which must be seriously stringy.

      Crows, those complex creatures, have emotions we can only guess at.

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  2. A particularly attractive Feral Pigeon.

    On a more depressing note the bird flu in the parks was one of the main stories on the early evening ITV news last night.

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    1. It does take the mainstream media an awfully long time to register when something happens.

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    2. I'm sorry, but I missed what happened to the partner male swan?

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    3. We don't know. There is no record of a body being found. Possibly the gardeners took it away without saying anything.

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  3. Love the Herring gull! They should start charging to make up the numbers for lunch

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    Replies
    1. You try getting a Herring Gull to pay for anything.

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  4. The fungus of the first photo is Splitgill mushroom (Schizophyllum commune).
    The ones of the second photo are (I think) old Shaggy Scalecaps (Pholiota squarrosa), though I would be happier if I were to see them in person

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much. I've added this to the text.

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