There were plenty of birds on the Little Owls' tree at the Round Pond: Rose-Ringed Parakeets ...
... Carrion Crows ...
... and a pair of Jackdaws affectionately preening each other, combining a display of affection with a light snack of bugs.
It was drizzling. The female owl was staying indoors.
A Pied Wagtail hunted on the wet grass below.
A Peregrine on the tower was in a damp huddle.
A Magpie posed grandly in a holly tree by the bridge.
A Robin in the shrubbery was looking for worms brought up by the rain ...
... and another on the edge of the Rose Garden had found one.
Long-Tailed Tits worked their way down the Flower Walk.
This Lesser Black-Backed Gull with pale feet is often seen at the Triangle car park trying to catch Feral Pigeons. Occasionally it has succeeded, but not this time: the pigeon saw it sidling up and flew away.
The Black-Headed Gull on the landing stage had cleared off its rivals and had the place to itself.
One of the teenage Great Crested Grebes at Peter Pan was scratching its ear.
A Shoveller rested in the reflection of the willow at the bridge.
Two female Tufted Ducks hobnobbed on the Serpentine. Numbers are badly down on the lake this year, for no known reason. They aren't in national decline like Pochards, which are Red-listed.
A stone ram stared from an urn in the Italian Garden. This is one of the new urns that were made when the garden was repaired in 2011, a copy of a badly eroded original. They did a very good job.
When the Huntress fountain was restored recently they added a string to Diana's bow. She'd better move her arm forward before she looses that arrow or she's going to give herself a nasty twang.
The not so Black-Headed Gull (winter plumage) has a rather empowered look on its face.
ReplyDeleteSean 😃
Sheep surely?
ReplyDeletePoor Diana, the arrow looks a bit bent too, maybe the result of some high jinks. Jim
Yes, I suppose you're right, looking at those curly horns about to pierce its own ears. They really ought to have straightened that arrow while the goddess was being maintained. They did sort out her bow, which was very wonky.
DeleteI saw the grey-footed Lesser Black Back tucking into a pigeon with relish a week last Monday on the shore near the Triangle car park. I guessed it was its own kill and not our friend's because there was still a lot of meat on the victim. Oddly the day before (the day the swans were released) I saw a predated pigeon floating near the small boathouses, attracting no interest from gulls or crows. I don't know what to make of that. Joe
ReplyDeleteSince the gull first came to notice maybe three years ago I've seen it with two pigeons it had clearly killed. No doubt it's getting better at hunting. It took the original Pigeon Eater several years before he could get a pigeon every day.
DeleteProbably the floating pigeon had been stolen while Pigeon Eater's back was turned, maybe carried off by another gull that tried to peck bits off in the water -- this is a skill too -- and gave up. But they do die of other causes, and I've often seen corpses lying around elsewhere still uneaten.
Interesting to read about the low numbers of Tufted Ducks there. For about 30 years now I've done monthly wildfowl counts from September to March on the Pen Ponds in Richmond Park (as well as WeBS on the Thames & Lonsdale Road Reservoir) & last month had no Tufted Ducks there. This week had 7 on the lower pond.
ReplyDeleteMuch to by amazement there was only a single duck on the larger upper pond- a solitary drake Mallard! There was a variety of other birds on it including Cormorants, Great Crested Grebes, Little Egrets, Herons & gulls. Not sure why the absence of duck on it?
Stranger and stranger. I have had no recent reports of bird flu among London waterfowl.
DeleteI usually restrict myself to birds and bumblebees (too busy ogling them, and not wishing to write a novel in every comment) but it bears repeating that your pictures of sculpture and architecture objects are just as incredible. The picture of Diana's statue is breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteTinúviel
It is a pleasing statue. A pity though that the sculptor wasn't a bit more clued up about archery. I think she intended to have a string on the bow, as Diana's fingers are made just right to hook it around, but probably omitted the string later to avoid being mocked.
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