A young Blackcap picked a fruit off a yew tree next to the Henry Moore sculpture. The sweet juicy red aril is the only part of the yew that isn't poisonous, but the hard seed inside passes through a bird's digestive system so quickly that it doesn't have time to do harm. Thus the tree propagates itself.
The faithful Robin was on a nearby twig. One of these days it will come out and allow me to video it singing.
It had just stopped raining when I found the male Little Owl at the Round Pond wondering if it was all right to come out of the hole.
The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was partly visible in the lime tree.
Two birds from elsewhere: a fine shot by Tom of a male Bearded Tit at Rainham Marshes ...
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... and a pleasing picture by Mark Williams from the Welsh Harp of a young Magpie lying carelessly in the middle of the path.
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A Grey Heron used a Coot nest at Peter Pan as a fishing platform.
Six Cormorants stood on the posts at the Serpentine island. One took off to go fishing.
There's a new Great Crested Grebe chick from a nest at the east end of the island. I could only see one.
The two chicks from the other nest on the island are considerably older and the red patches on their head are now covered with feathers.
The three from the nest at the bridge had crossed on to the Serpentine. One was being fed ...
...while the others practised diving and the head-shaking greeting ceremony.
The other four on the Long Water were near the Vista. One noisily pestered its father.
The female Mute Swan of the invading pair examined her new accommodation at the nesting island on the Long Water, built for the female her appalling mate had murdered. Thanks to Virginia for this picture, which she took on her phone this evening.
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It was quite chilly in the morning but the hardy Bumblebees were busy as usual. Common Carders visited the lavender ...
... and there was a single Buff-Tail on a patch of Blue Mist spirea.
Of course this video was shot next to the Buck Hill shelter, always the place for sights of stange activities from aikido to zumba. I had never seen or heard of the Berimbau, a percussion bow with a gourd resonator, which is from Angola although there are similar instruments elsewhere.
One could write a catalogue of ethnic dances and music simply by walking through the park daily.
ReplyDelete"The Faithful Robin" sounds like the most charming name for a short children story!
Tinúviel
All these strange displays seem to be concentrated on the Buck Hill shelter. It's a weirdness magnet.
DeleteOh yes, the role of the Robin as psychopomp, the guide of souls around and after death,
There is a belief in Christian folklore that the Robin sang to comfort Jesus on the cross and was splashed with his blood.
Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren,
Since o’er shady groves they hover,
And with leaves and flowers do cover
The friendless bodies of unburied men.
----- Webster
When Mary, wife of the English King William III, died, a Robin entered Westminster Abbey and perched on her catafalque as she lay in state, and would not leave it till the funeral service was completed.
See also the Robin as spirit guide in Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. There must be more examples to be found with a bit of research.
Lovely image of the Great Crested Grebe chick on its parent. Have been enjoying the family shots.
ReplyDeleteCommon Carder Bee along with Honey Bee is by far the most abundant in my garden at the moment.
It seems to be a boom year for Common Carders. They're everywhere in the park.
DeleteIn my part of rural South West Wiltshire we thought, as children, that stealing or breaking a Robin's eggs when bird nesting would cause your little fingers to grow crooked.
ReplyDeleteAlways useful to have a myth that has a good effect. When people tell me that a swan can break your leg with one blow of its wing I never contradict them.
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