On a grey and slightly drizzly day the Little Owl at the Round Pond stayed in his hole.
Goldfinches hopped around in a tree on the Parade Ground. You can hear the combined twittering of Goldfinches and Redwings ...
... which were in the same clump of trees.
There was also a Great Spotted Woodpecker, normal coloured and not the brown one that is also here.
Small birds coming out to be fed at Mount Gate included a pair of Chaffinches ...
... a Coal Tit ...
... and a Blue Tit.
A Rose-Ringed Parakeet chewed cherry blossom in the North Flower Walk.
It was getting dark when I returned through the South Flower Walk, but the dominant Robin was still looking around for tits to chase off his territory. Nevertheless, everyone got fed.
On the island a parent Grey Heron was guarding the chick in the top nest ...
... while the other pair wandered around in the trees, still house hunting.
There was a young Herring Gull with an over-long hooked bill on the Serpentine. I don't think it was suffering any disadvantage.
The Little Grebe in the Italian Garden has lost his favourite shelter of iris leaves, which the gardeners have cut down. It has taken to resting under the spray head of the fountain. It gets absolutely soaked there but grebes are the most waterproof of birds and it doesn't mind.
Coots are returning to last year's nest site on the wire baskets under the bridge.
Glad to say that the dominant pair of Mute Swans on the Long Water are together again after the female went missing for several days. They were at the Vista.
A swan on the Serpentine, lured by the enticing smell of peanuts, examined a discarded packet. But it was empty.
In Queen's Gate the Omani ambassador was brought back to his embassy in a royal carriage after presenting his credentials at Buckingham Palace. That's not him you can see, as protocol demands that he should sit on the right.
Even with the Queen sadly gone, no one does pomp and circumstance better.
ReplyDeleteDunno about the Little Grebe. Doesn't it look a bit miserable getting drenched like that'
I think the swans were on a break. Mercifully they must have agreed they were better together than apart.
Tinúviel
The Little Grebe does seem to have chosen that place. There are still some places inside the other planters where it can hide. Also, it can go right under the spray head out of sight, so it doesn't have to be drenched -- a completely safe place though noisy.
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