It was a warm sunny day and a young Robin took the opportunity to sunbathe in the bushes beside the Long Water.
So did a Grey Heron on the edge of the Serpentine.
The Reed Warbler by the Italian Garden was hard at work hunting insects for her chicks.
Ahmet Amerikali took this fine picture of a Blackcap near the Henry Moore sculpture ...
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... and managed to get a bit closer to the elusive Willow Warbler near the bridge.
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The male Little Owl at the Round Pond looked down from a high branch ...
... and the female at the Serpentine seemed a bit bored.
The Peregrines were on the barracks tower, with the male on the left giving a good impression of a gargoyle.
The Great Crested Grebe chicks at the bridge swam around while their mother tidied up the nest.
Two of them started wrestling and were so busy that they didn't notice when she turned up with a fish, so the third chick got it.
The four chicks of the older family are now too big to fit on a parent together, so it was two up and two down.
The resident Mute Swans on the Long Water had a quiet moment together while the invading family were back on the Serpentine and their two cygnets were away feeding.
A fox dozed in the Dell, waking just enough to give me a wary look before it went back to sleep.
This gorgeous bronze damselfly is a female Banded Demoiselle -- females don't have the black band on the wing. She was on a nettle on the waterfront at Peter Pan.
I also saw a male Large Red Damselfly here, but a passing pigeon scared it off before I could get a picture.
Butterflies included a Brimstone ...
... and a Meadow Brown on the buddleia bush by the bridge ...
... and a Holly Blue at the south end of the bridge, seen from the parapet.
Amazing how the young Robin instantly knows to bask in the hot sun like that for feather maintenance, must be imbedded into it’s nervous system! And how about the Red Fox looking glamorous as always!
ReplyDeleteSean
The chicks are growing so fast! It's noticeable, from day to day.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why birds look almost distressed while sunbathing. My late lamented canary used to look in almost pain. Maybe it's the effort of fluffing up so dramatically and lying in a disarranged pose?
Tinúviel
I think it's because birds are so bright and focused that it's a shock to see them relaxed and sprawling.
DeleteGood to see the Banded Demoiselle. A Large Red Damselfly would be a pretty late record. I haven't seen one for a few weeks but not much to confuse them with. I did see a pair of Small Red Damselflies at Chobham Common yesterday but these are extremely unlikely to be recorded in London.
ReplyDeleteI saw it on Tuesday, so not absolutely recently. I've been inspecting that clump of nettles since then in the hope that it would come back. They are handsome creatures.
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