Friday 13 January 2023

Birds come out of hiding

The small birds in the Flower Walk had been frightened by a predator when I arrived, probably one of the resident pair of Sparrowhawks but I didn't see it. They were hiding in the bushes, but gradually came out to be fed.

A Coal Tit stared down from the corkscrew hazel ...


... and the male Chaffinch ...


... his mate ...


... and a Robin were also looking hungry.


Only a Blue Tit was polite enough not to stare.


A Carrion Crow was also looking expectant, but then they always do.


A Lesser Black-Backed Gull stood on a post at the Vista, a bit ruffled by the wind, and looked around in a lordly way. It has rather off-coloured feet, not the typical yellow. Some of the LBBs here have pinkish feet like Herring Gulls, and I think there may be some hybrids.


Ahmet Amerikali photographed a confrontation between a Cormorant and a Grey Heron which wanted its post. The heron stayed put.


Coot fights are usually between pairs defending what they consider to be their territories -- which overlap, so there are a lot of fights. Often only the males fight and the females stay at the edge cheering them on. But sometimes it becomes two on two.


The Little Grebe was with the Gadwalls when I arrived at the Italian Garden ...


... but Ahmet found it helping the Mallards.


The dominant pair of Mute Swans had flown in. They got bored with one pool, so first the male ...


... and then the female transferred ungracefully to the next one.


Joan Chatterley photographed the Black Swan on the Round Pond.


Abigail was in the Rose Garden, where she found the Buff-Tailed Bumblebees busy on the mahonia.


She also sent a picture from inside the Dell restaurant: an old-fashioned protester at Speaker's Corner, not to be compared with the rabble you see there now.


I miss Stanley Green, the 'Less Protein' man who for years used to carry his placard at Oxford Circus. There is a Wikipedia article about him.

11 comments:

  1. I wish I could shake this protester's hand. Not because of any political stance, but because he is a living testimony to the manners and customs of a world gone with the wind, so to speak.
    What an extraordinary figure, "the most famous non-famous person in London". Did he ever give you his pamphlet?
    The small birds are looking very fine, and very eager, and very happy to have you back.
    Tinúviel

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  2. Yes, many years ago I bought his pamphlet for a trifling sum. I can't remember much about it. Wonder whether a web search would produce the text.

    How lovely it would be if we could make friends with our enemies and do business with them. But our enemy is the government and the figures of fathomless evil to whose tune it dances, and there is no doing business with those.

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    1. Got it! Downloadable as a PDF from
      http://www.starling-fitness.com/archives/2013/02/20/less-passion-from-less-protein/

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    2. Wow, thanks for finding it. It's a real curio - absolutely out of his gourd, he was, but a truly interesting way to write.
      Tinúviel

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    3. No one sane could have achieved what he did. But I do wonder whether anyone ever followed his advice.

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  3. Where exactly in the flower walk do you feed them? And what do they like to eat?

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    Replies
    1. Between Queen's Gate and the Albert Memorial. Pine nuts.

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    2. Thanks:)

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  4. I remember that wonderful man with the placard too. He used to wander along Oxford St as well, warning us of the evils of protein. Both parks have been/are such a part of my life. From my first photo as a week old baby in Mum’s arms taken by my Dad at the gate by the Italian Gardens. Running around the park every weekend as a child, be it by the band stand in the summer or in the children’s playground on all those wonderful pieces of equipment that are banned today under health and safety! Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are very special places. I do so enjoy all the photos and really appreciate your coordination of it all, Ralph. Very pleased you are able to walk in the park again and are building up your strength.

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    1. Yes, I was also brought to the park as a baby in 1948. Like a Red Indian, I don't own land: the land owns me.

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    2. I do like your comment about the land owning you. Perfect.

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