The male Little Owl at the Round Pond basked in the sunshine on the dead tree where his mate is nesting.
He looked around warily, but decided that I wasn't a threat.
The female Peregrine preferred the shaded side of the barracks tower. Probably the aluminium cladding gets uncomfortably hot in summer sunshine.
Two young Long-Tailed Tits and a parent settled for a moment in a holly tree near Mount Gate.
A Grey Heron on the small waterfall in the Dell was reflected in the water below.
The Coots in the Italian Garden have lost a chick -- to a Herring Gull, I was told -- but still have six.
The Black Swan cruised around the Serpentine with his Mute girlfriend, looking for people with bags that might contain bread. She may have noticed that she gets fed more when she's with her exotic companion.
The female swan on the Long Water pulled up algae for her two cygnets, a much sounder diet.
The parents evicted two Egyptian Geese that dared to stand on their nesting island.
There were ten new Egyptian goslings on the gravel strip in the Long Water.
The brood of ten Egyptians on the Round Pond was still intact.
The other family here have lost one and were down to eight. But all in all, on the pond and the main lake, the Egyptians are having a fantastically successful year, far better than any of the other waterfowl. I can't explain why.
The bright sunshine made it possible to get a good view of one of the Backswimmers in the Italian Garden. They need their large red eyes as they are carnivorous and active hunters, taking smaller insects, tadpoles and even young fish. They can deliver a painful prod to your hand with their sharp proboscis.
A male Common Blue Damselfly ...
... and what I thought was a female sunned themselves in the grass near the Round Pond.
Update: David Element has pointed out that it isn't a female -- though these do come in various colours. He says it's an immature male and will go blue later.
The Serpentine pavilion by Lina Ghotmeh is now complete though not yet open. It's good to have a recognisable and usable pavilion that keeps the rain off for a change.
I have been busy with Damselflies and Dragonflies all day in the Italian Gardens all day today. The Reed Warblers kept flitting around enthusiastically but I did not get any pictures unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI photographed my first Holly Blue, but I also photographed and observed a grand total of 14 species of Odonata.
Among them were Red-Eyed Damselflies, Banded Demoiselle, Four-Spotted Skimmer, Black-Tailed Skimmer, Emperor Dragonfly and Small Red Damselfly. It was my first Four-Spotted Skimmer so I am quite happy with that and the other ones, but I still managed to miss the Little Owl!
Theodore
I also searched for the Little Owl and had no luck! So difficult now to spot with all the leaves in full form.
DeleteSean
That's serious work on the Odonata. Four-Spotted Chasers are rare in the park and I've only ever seen one here. Have seen a Common Darter this year but didn't get a picture. The Emperors are staying in the pools and never stopping, so almost impossible to photograph, and nothing usable yet. But they can be got in flight with persistence when they start hunting over the main lake under the parapet.
DeleteI also saw a Holly Blue beside the Long Water but it was out of reach in the brambles and I only got an unsatisfactory end-on shot. Never mind, they are quite common and there will be more.
Hope that Reed Warbler at the Italian Garden is the same as last year's, which became quite bold and easy to photograph. It would even perch on the balustrade.
I thoroughly enjoyed my walk around today, it was overcrowded with people and the wildlife was a bit scarce. I saw a Mute Swan by the restaurant over the bridge near the Coots nest with only one eye! It must of lost it in a fight to another Swan perhaps. Also got some nice shots of a pair of Great Crested Grebes courting at the Round Pond, some images will be on my Instagram page in the near future, if you wish to look. Such a wonderful park.
ReplyDeleteSean
I've read that in the 18th century pink was for boys and blue for girls in Europe. But I can't verify if it's true.
ReplyDeleteIt's fascinating how the Little Owl looks at things almost as if he isn't looking, indirectly.
Tinúviel
An owl's visual experience must be quite odd from our viewpoint. They have quite a narrow arc of vision, as if looking permanently through binoculars, and within that arc things must appear huge. Also, being very small, Little Owls don't have much stereoscopic depth perception, which is why they bob their heads from side to side when looking at something, to see how far away it is.
Delete