A Blackbird dashed up and down the grass verge of the Flower Walk collecting insects for his nestlings.
A young Long-Tailed Tit paused on a branch at Mount Gate.
I went back to the Wood Pigeon nest in the Rose Garden which I filmed yesterday, because Jim thought the video showed three birds. I had only noticed one adult and one young one. Anyway, today the young bird was alone in the nest.
The male Peregrine was on the barracks tower looking rather dishevelled.
There is one more Coot chick in the nest at the bridge, bringing the total up to six hatched over more than a fortnight. There may have been seven briefly yesterday, but one seems to have gone missing.
A Moorhen stood on the small waterfall in the Dell. I've only seen a single one of the pair over the past few days, and hope that this means there is a female nesting somewhere out of sight.
Four Mallard ducklings cried plaintively because they couldn't see their mother. She was away because she was being harassed by a drake. She ame back, but the drake was still being a nuisance. Mallard drakes are sex-mad and completely irresponsible about the welfare of the young.
Sad to say, the Pochard at the island has lost two ducklings and is down to three.
The Black Swan on the Serpentine preened his unexpected white flight feathers before going off to find his Mute girlfriend.
The female swan at the island was out with her four small cygnets, touting for food.
The sunshine has brought up the algae in the Italian Garden pools, attracting Red-Eyed Damselflies.
Buff-Tailed Bumblebees browsed on catmint flowers in the Rose Garden. I think this is a fancy Nepeta cultivar and not old-fashioned catnip, but I didn't have a cat handy to try it on.
A Common Carder bee preferred a clump of bigroot geranium.
Sightings of hard-to-identify bees continue. Here are three more pictures from Duncan Campbell, all probably of Mining Bees and all in the Rose Garden. This one may be a Short-Fringed Mining Bee, Andrena dorsata.
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But this one in a pink rose is a mystery ...
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... and so is this one on a euphorbia. It's very small.
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One of the uncertain bees in Tuesday's insect supplement is also a Mining Bee, of which there seems to be an endless variety in the bee paradise of the Rose Garden.
The exhibition Webs of Life is now open at the Serpentine Gallery. It includes many dodecahedral fantasy bird boxes -- the artist Tomás Saraceno is hoping that some of them will be occupied but the gallery has left it a bit late in the year. What appears to be a Pied Wagtail on the left of this tower of boxes is actually a metal cutout, one of a number of silhouette birds and beasts in the exhibition.
I have never ever seen Pochard chicks! I hope they are still there when I turn up to take a look. I hope to see the Red-Eyed Damselfly since I have not seen one of those knowingly. Very exciting
ReplyDeleteTheodore
Also, which pool in the Italian Gardens has the most activity. You mentioned it somewhere but is it the one on the top right, facing away from the Serpentine? I normally see most stuff at the top left with your back to the Serpentine.
DeleteTheodore
The damselfly was in the southwest pool, but really the thing to do is to look at all the patches of algae wherever they may be.
ReplyDeleteIs the southwest pool the one to the bottom left facing away from the Long Water?
DeleteYes. But if you don't know which way you're facing you must have a terrible time on the Tube.
DeleteI know which way I am facing but I am just not exactly sure! Plus, I never take the tube!
DeleteSuch a joy to see Damselflies and Dragonflies around this time of the year. They have such short lifespans.
ReplyDeleteSean
Is the metal cutout bird intended to convince birds it is safe nesting there? Artificial stork nests here will usually have a lifesize cutout stork in the vicinity for that purpose.
ReplyDeleteWere I a swan, I too would lose my heart to the Black Swan. What a fine fellow, what gorgeous plumage.
Tinúviel
I think it's just a rare outbreak of representational art, a rare thing at the Serpentine Gallery. A metal cutout wouldn't fool a bird anyway. Even my splendid lifesize crochet Blackbird Melas, very realistic, only deceived a real Blackbird for about 10 seconds until it got close enough. Probably storks recognise the cutout stork as a symbol, 'Storks welcome here.'
DeleteI wonder if that was because the crochet bird doesn't move, or its eyes don't shine? Who knows how a bird perceives things.
DeleteTinúviel
Melas' eyes are very shiny, and Blackbirds often stay still for some time. I think they have to come close enough to see the texture of crochet rather than feathers.
Delete