The Great Crested Grebes' nest opposite Peter Pan was busy this afternoon. I think the eggs are beginning to hatch, though at 100 yards' distance it's impossible to be sure.
In this picture, are those little stripy heads to the left of the grebe's feet?
On the near side of the lake, the Mallard still has two ducklings and they are growing to a size where they're slightly safer.
The young Coots at the bridge are now adult size. One stretched a wing, showing fully grown primary feathers.
In the Dell, one Moorhen cruised past the other without any sign of mutual recognition.
The old Grey Heron at the Dell wasn't being bothered by his young rival, and took the opportunity to have a lie down.
An inquisitive look from another heron at the island.
The female Little Owl at the Round Pond was out in her favourite place.
The male at the Serpentine Gallery could just be seen in the top of the nest tree.
One of the pair of Carrion Crows at the Italian Garden, which have just brought up two young, has a very battered head from feeding them. You can see into its ear, which ought to be decently covered with feathers.
A Wood Pigeon at the bridge ate unripe elderberries.
Two Honeybees, a Common Carder bee, a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee and a Red Admiral butterfly visited a clump of agapanthus in the Dell.
In the Rose Garden there were Common Carders all over the appropriately named Scarlet Bee Balm ...
... but the Buff-Tails preferred Persian Catmint.
The thistle patch at the foot of Buck Hill attracted a Marmalade Fly.
Butterflies were plentiful but ordinary. A Large White perched on a flower in the Rose Garden that I can't identify ...
... and a Meadow Brown rested in the long grass by the Round Pond.
How fascinating with the Carrion Crow loosing it’s feathers and exposing the outer ear!
ReplyDeleteWhat causes this? Is it slightly similar to humans with constant overworking and stress, resulting in hair loss..
Sean
I've explained this more than once recently. It's abrasion by the chicks.
DeleteThat does make sense! With them burrowing their heads into the chicks mouth constantly, and friction burn comes into play also, I suppose.
DeleteCheers Ralph :]
Sean
I've peered into the picture and shown it to my husband - we can't see any stripy heads, bummer. Any day now, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteThat poor Crow has the most miserable facial expression I've seen in a long time.
Tinúviel
I've added an enlargement of that image to the page. Not at all sure. In another picture at least three brown unhatched eggs are visible. Grebe eggs start white but get stained by the algae in the nest.
DeleteLooking closely at the Grebe nest again, I can just about make out what looks like two whiteish round eggs roughly poking out in the middle centre, between the feet.
ReplyDeleteSean
Any more photos of the plant the Large White is on? Looks a bit like a Daphne, though most of these flower earlier in the year, hence my reservation?
ReplyDeleteI asked the gardeners about this, and they were surprised because it's not part of their planting. They think it's some kind of Clerodendron that has got in somehow. If so, the fairly small plant a couple of feet tall is on its way to being a shrub.
DeleteIt doesn't particularly look like a Clerodendron to me; certainly not the 2 most frequently grown species- C. bungei or C. trichotonum. Will be interesting to see more of it.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to find that plant for three days in the many flower beds and winding paths of the Rose Garden to take a zoomed-out picture, but without success. There was only one and it was quite small. So I fear It may have to remain a mystery -- though I may run into Malachi the gardener, who knows the Rose Garden very well and is also a keen naturalist.
Delete