It rained for most of the day. You might have hoped that the change in the weather would bring the temperature up a bit but no, it continues to get colder. Anyway, the Redwings on the Parade Ground were delighted by the rain, which brings up worms for them.
There were plenty more Redwings over a wide area in Kensington Gardens.
A Pied Wagtail hunted from the rails around the planters in the Italian Garden.
There were midges over the water, and it sped off to catch them in midair.
A Dunnock perched on a bush in the Rose Garden.
During a brief dry spell a Blue Tit sang by the bridge ...
...and a Coal Tit ...
... and a Robin came out on the paperbush in the Flower Walk.
The Little Grebe in the Italian Garden doesn't care whether it rains or not ...
... and a Moorhen in the fountain decided that it might as well get properly wet ...
... but a Feral Pigeon was looking sadly soggy as it tried to shelter under the cornice of the loggia.
The Black Swan's fine ruffles are completely water-resistant.
A pair of Egyptian Geese had wandered a long way from the water and were grazing at the Albert Memorial. The grass here has been re-seeded and is probably tastier than the scrubby stuff elsewhere in the park.
Tom was at the Elmley Nature Reserve, where he saw a female Peregrine that had killed an unfortunate Stock Dove.
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The local Lapwings didn't like her at all.
Apologies to anyone who hasn't been able to post a comment here. The fault seems random, and restarting your browser and trying again may work.
ReplyDeleteChrome finally did the trick. Brave, Opera and Firefox didn't.
DeleteTinúviel
It seems to be completely random. You'd think that Google's Blogger would be OK on Google's Chrome, but that isn't the way things work. From the blog writer's point of view Blogger remains chaotic.
DeleteImpressive that you managed to get such good pics on a rainy day. I thought we were in for a cold spell when I finally saw redwings and fieldfares in Essex at the weekend - how do the birds anticipate the weather? Is Elmsley in Kent?
ReplyDeleteI simply don't understand why birds are so much better than us at forecasting the weather. But they ought to sack the humans at the Met Office and replace them with birds.
DeleteI'd trust any Jackdaw above the Met Office any day of the week!
DeleteTinúviel
It is in Kent.
Delete"Sacking" is perhaps a little harsh... it's a tricky subject. They only try to predict the weather, they don't control it
DeleteThey do boast abilities they simply don't have. They can get things roughly right 12 hours ahead, sometimes even 24, but anything beyond that is pure fluff.
DeleteThey do boast abilities they simply don't have. They can get things roughly right 12 hours ahead, sometimes even 24, but anything beyond that is pure fluff.
DeleteIt was a thoroughly miserable day (as is today), but at least there was minimal snow cover which soon got washed away. Given the light some sharp photos-particularly like the Redwing & Coal Tit.
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for that Feral Pigeon-it looks so miserable as I would be if I were forced to sit the weather out!
Tom got some fine shots of that bulky female Peregrine.
Tom also has some video on his YT channel (pic bytom) of the Peregrine dragging the Stock Dove. I'm surprised it didn't pick it up and fly off, but perhaps there was nowhere for it to go. The Peregrines in the park take their pigeons up to the tower.
DeleteYes I did see some of Tom's work on FB.
ReplyDelete