Today's best pictures come from Ahmet Amerikali, who managed to photograph two Reed Warblers: one in a tree near the Lido ...
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... and the other in the reeds below the Italian Garden. With luck the second one is the very bold bird that gave us some fine views last year.
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Andrew Skeet has a camera trained on a Jays' nest outside his window. Four chicks have now hatched. Although their eyes are still closed they can sense the arrival of a parent and beg for food.
Six Great Tit chicks gaped in their nest in the old cast iron pump.
A Goldcrest sang in a yew tree behind the statue of Peter Pan.
A Wood Pigeon on a post looked severely at a squirrel on the next post.
There were frequent showers. A Carrion Crow drank from a puddle at the Dell.
Another crow buzzed a Grey Heron beside the Long Water. Crows hate herons and often attack them for no other reason.
The male Little Owl at the Round Pond was on his favourite branch in the horse chestnut tree.
The Coot at the bridge turned over her 19 eggs.
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The dominant male Mute Swan on the Long Water chased a harmless Greylag Goose which was minding its own business.
The Canada Goose with three goslings kept a lookout beside the Serpentine.
A pair of Egyptians is constantly seen in the Dell, and probably the female will be nesting soon.
Terrapins came out on the fallen horse chestnut in the Long Water, the first time I've seen them this year. You can see the red streak on the side of the head that denotes a Red-Eared Slider.
A beautiful Crane Fly perched on a blade of grass on Buck Hill. David Element has identified it as Nephrotoma appendiculata.
The yellow irises in the Italian Garden have begun to flower.
The pair of LBB Gulls are nesting again on my roof between the chimney pots. (at least I presume it's the same pair, in exactly the same spot). They first appreared in 2020, and have returned every year. I'm a bit worried as a pair of Crows are also nesting, high up in an adjacent plane tree. In the first year, the gulls had a dust-up with Magpies, and the gull chicks persished.
ReplyDeleteI hope the gulls have learnt to be more vigilant. They're intelligent and remember things. Unfortunately the crows are even more intelligent and have all kinds of ruses.
DeleteI don't see that they can be anyone else's -- unless one of the two supposed males is female. You can't tell by looking at them.
ReplyDeleteAmazing warbler photos and yesterday's goldcrest, thank you.
ReplyDeleteGetting pictures of Reed Warblers requires great patience. All credit to Ahmet for that, especially in two places on the same day.
DeleteAgree some fine photos of the Reed Warblers.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that Coot nest with so many eggs involves some egg dumping from at least one other Coot?
Lovely shot of the Yellow Iris. I did notice a lot of them at the London Wetland Centre a couple of days ago.
Well, as I said above, it's possible that the three here are two females and a male mating with both of them.
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