The Goldcrest in the shrubbery in the Rose Garden is surprisingly easy to see, as it isn't hiding in the evergreens as they usually do and it calls as it flits around.
The Reed Warbler fledglings are no longer being fed by their parents, so you only get an occasional glimpse of them in the reeds by the Italian Garden.
For a change it was the male Little Owl who was on view in the lime tree at the Serpentine Gallery.
The male Little Owl at the Round Pond remains in the horse chestnut tree, but now that the owlets are grown up and gone and no longer need supervising he is moving around and may be anywhere. He peered through the leaves ...
... and moved to a higher perch to have a preen.
A feeding frenzy where someone was throwing bread in the water gives you a chance to see how to tell young Lesser Black-Backed and young Herring Gulls apart. The bird at the very top of the picture has dark flight feathers all along its wings anmd is a Lesser Black-Back. The others have paler inner primaries and are Herring Gulls.
Now that this year's young fish are large enough to be worth catching, the Cormorants are returning to the lake. There were a dozen today, but soon there may be as many as 40.
The Grey Heron at the Lido restaurant is getting bolder by the day, and has now got to the stage of landing on people's tables to beg for food.
The murderous male Mute Swan was also begging. I don't think this person would be so keen to feed him if he knew what the bird had done.
The cygnets wandered around unescorted on the Long Water.
The orphaned cygnet is still waiting to be picked up, and was at the Dell restaurant. At least this place is at a good distance from the murderer.
One of the Great Crested Grebe chicks at the bridge rested under the willow ...
... while its father went under the bridge to fish in the wire baskets on the other side.
There have been a few Migrant Hawker dragonflies recently, though they are never common in the park.
I also got a momentary sight of a Brown Hawker, but it wouldn't stop to have its picture taken.
A single sunflower has come up beside the leaf yard. The crop up in odd places as a result of people feeding birds on sunflower seeds.
The scaffolding around the restored Huntress fountain in the Rose Garden has come down, and the goddess is looking very fine on her new marble bowl.
Hi Ralph, the heron is being a proper 'pest' but I am wondering if it's because she has got this growth in front of her eye which is making it hard for her to fish? She is always stalking me too ( and I always feed her ). She is totally obsessed...
ReplyDeleteI don't think that growth, whatever it is, is on a direct line between the eye and the tip of the beak. In that case it doesn't obstruct the heron's lunge. Herons don't get much if any depth perception from using both eyes as they are so close together, and I think that they use parallax by moving their head sideways to get information about depth, as other birds with small heads do.
DeleteAnyway, the heron's boldness at the restaurant tables should make it easier to catch and remove the growth. But you were there when Mateusz caught that heron to remove the bit of plastic net from its beak, so you know what a messy and violent business it is to catch one.
Hi Ralph, excellent photos as usual. Any sign Of any hobby's over the park recently. I recall seeing quite a few years ago. And yes, that IS a very bold heron..... Regards.stephen.b.
ReplyDeleteNo information about hobbies. It's odd that people who read this blog ask me if I have information about interesting birds. If I get such information I unfailingly put it in the blog (with the obvious exception that I don't reveal the nest sites of birds on Schedule 1, but the Hobbies have finished nesting).
DeleteI have such hopes for that Heron. It's looking very promising!
ReplyDeleteI suppose nothing can be done about that swan. Perhaps he could be moved somewhere else where his murderous tendencies wouldn't be given such free rein.
Tinúviel
I hope the heron doesn't get too bold. The one at the Dell restaurant that raided people's plates was removed, and its subsequent fate is shrouded in deliberate obscurity.
DeleteThe murderous swan can't be moved while he has five cygnets to look after.