One of the Song Thrushes nesting near the Speke obelisk arrived with a worm but a Jay was watching, eager to find and raid the nest, and wouldn't go away despite the thrush's scolding. I was able to distract the Jay with a peanut, but it's a constant problem.
The nearby pair of Blackbirds are probably nesting too, though I haven't yet seen one carrying food.
A female Chaffinch preened on a twig.
A Robin carrying insects to a nest in the shrubbery at the Triangle car park was also having predator trouble, this time with a Magpie. Again I was able to buy the Magpie off, but unfortunately it's one of a pair nesting in a treetop a few yards away.
The two small wattle trees in the Rose Garden are constantly visited by Blue Tits. They must be full of insects.
There was a Coal Tit in the cedar at the back of the Albert Memorial. It called to attract my attention and flew down to a bush to collect its customary pine nut.
A few yards away a Magpie posed in cherry blossom.
Another was in the Rose Garden, dunking a bit of bread in the Huntress fountain.
A Grey Heron flew into the third nest on the island, with the chicks begging frantically for food. They are more or less invisible but towards the end of this clip you can see flapping in the bottom right of the picture.
Great Crested Grebes stay mostly on the main lake but sometimes visit the Round Pond, so there must be an adequate supply of fish in it. This one amused itself by catching insects.
Territorial squabbles continue on the Serpentine, where there are three pairs. A pair displayed before going back to the long-running dispute.
The Coots in the Italian Garden have abandoned their attempt to make a nest inside one of the fountains and have settled for a reasonable place in a planter. This is, however, not safe from gulls or herons.
The pair of Mandarins continue to persecute the lone drake. As I was passing the Lido they all shot out of the water and landed in two different plane trees.
A tall communications antenna has been put up in the Diana fountain car park. No doubt this is something to do with broadcasting the coronation.
Update: Just in from Tom, who was at Thorndon Country Park in Essex. A Black-Crowned Night Heron, quite a rarity.
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Wow, a Night Heron! Great sighting.
ReplyDeleteCorvids are a big problem to small birds, unfortunately. It breaks my heart.
Tinúviel
Yes, it saddens me greatly too, because I love corvids. But you have to take nature as it comes.
DeleteNice shot of the Black-crowned Night Heron. There's been quite an influx of these birds in the last couple of weeks in GB & Ireland, with a couple of sites with multiple birds. There was one near me at Brent Reservoir a couple of weeks back. I did see a few last week in a big mixed heronry in Spain which also had White Stork, Spoonbill, Grey Heron & dominated by Cattle Egrets.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether any will breed in the UK this year. A pair did breed a few years back in the Somerset Marshes which is the best place in the UK to see our various heron species.