A Goldfinch sang in a treetop near the leaf yard.
A Redwing on the Parade Ground ...
... easily found two worms and pulled them up, but a Lesser Black-Backed Gull did the worm dance for some time without bringing up anything. I wonder whether the light patter of a flock of Redwings hopping around encourages worms to surface.
I didn't see any Pied Wagtails there, but one was looking for bugs near the small boathouses.
A Starling shone in the sunlight.
Barry fed some on his hand, a painful experience as their beaks are sharp and they are very enthusiastic.
Duncan Campbell took this picture of a pair of Rose-Ringed Parakeets canoodling.
%202023%201.jpg)
There was just one Cormorant left at Peter Pan, but it was looking as elegant as a Cormorant can manage.
A young Black-Headed Gull was by itself near the Albert Memorial. It was oddly tatty and my first thought was that its preen gland had failed and there wasn't enough oil to maintain its feathers.
But looking at it more closely its feathers seem to be in good condition, so I think it has the 'Frizzle' gene that makes feathers curly, like the familiar Blue Tit in the leaf yard.
The Little Grebe was inside one the the planters with a female Mallard.
The dominant Mute Swans were at the Vista when they saw in the distance another pair mating under the bridge.
They instantly set off to chase the intruders away.
Four more pictures from Bull Island near Dublin by Tina Coulcher's son Dan: Teal ...
%202023%201a.jpg)
... Wigeon ...
%202023%201a.jpg)
... Pintail ...
%202023%201a.jpg)
... and Shelduck.
%202023%201a.jpg)
All these ducks used to come to the park from time to time, but visits have become far less frequent since the Barnes Wetland Centre and other Thames-side reserves have been set up, and now we only get an occasional Teal and a very rare Wigeon. They have found places that are more to their taste.
We are currently being overrun by Golfinches in my neck of woods. They care coming back to the city from the countryside and are so gloriously visible!
ReplyDeletePoor Gull got caught in the mother of all bad hair days.
Tinúviel
What a state, that Gull. There's been a good little flock of Goldfinches around my neck of the woods (EC1) for a few years now. I used to feed them from a window feeder. Until a neighbour complained.
DeleteThere are plenty of Goldfinches in London streets, twittering away from television aerials. Often when I come out of my front door it's the first bird I see.
DeleteUlrike, what a miserable neighbour. Hope she gets infested with rats.
DeleteYes. Love their twittering, and I've seen young birds grow , close up. No rats recently, but mice in the block, for all.
DeleteWhat a miserable killjoy. I hope karma will visit him in the form of large snakes. Or rats. Or mosquitoes. Even fat hairy spiders would do.
DeleteTinúviel
Armatae face et anguibus.
DeleteToo good for the likes of him.
DeleteTinúviel
Thanks for the music!
DeleteThe gull does get a worm at 0.27. And what's with the cliffhanger ending to the clip? As always a pleasure to tune in. Jim
ReplyDeleteWhatever the gull gets at 0.27, food or not, it doesn't look long enough for a worm. I'm inclined to write that off as a miss that just brought up bit of earth. As for the ending, it was dancing when I arrived. I filmed it for three minutes and it was still dancing when I stopped and went away. I chose the only bit of video where it reached down for anything.
DeleteIn the stills it clearly grapples with a worm which is last seen detached from where it emerged from the ground, but the grass in that spot continues to shake briefly, while the feet are still, as if part of the worm is escaping back down. Jim
DeleteWell, perhaps it bit right through it with its powerful beak. I do note that the Herring Gulls which often dance in the Diana Drain enclosure pull up whole worms.
DeleteCertainly the tattiest Black-headed Gull I've seen-poor thing!
ReplyDeleteGoldfinches seem to be declining around here. I regularly used to have up to 20 in the garden. Now I'm just getting the odd one or two. Planted Grey & Italian Alders down my road often had flocks of 20-30 in the winter, but I've seen none in them this winter or last.
Love Dan's duck shots-superb. The birds that initially inspired my deep love of the natural world as a 5 year old over half a century back.
I must take a walk down Molyneux Street just east of the Edgware Road and see how the large flock of Goldfinches here is faring.
ReplyDeleteI've seen gulls in worse shape, but only if they've been unable to preen. This one seemed OK and its wings and tail were normal -- just as with our frizzy Blue Tir.