It rained for most of the morning. The female Little Owl at the Round Pond, sheltering in her hole, didn't look pleased.
Later it brightened up and she could come out on to her usual branch.
Starlings poked in the waterlogged ground for worms brough to the surface. One has a ring. You really have no hope of reading a metal ring on a small swift bird -- it could only have been caught for ringing by mist netting -- but I could just see part of the word LONDON so it wouldn't be an exciting discovery.
This Black-Headed Gull seen at Peter Pan has one of Bill Haines's recent rings, Orange 2V67, so not much history there either.
There are Robin territories all along the Flower Walk, defended by song.
I hadn't seen a Coal Tit here for some time, so it was good to find one.
There are plenty of Blue Tits. This one gave the camera a challenging stare ...
... and another was in the dead tree next to the bridge looking for insects.
A Grey Heron stood against a background of autumn leaves beside the Long Water.
On the other side there was a full house of Cormorants on the fallen Lombardy poplar.
A young Cormorant relaxed on a post at the bridge, letting its wings droop.
The Great Crested Grebes at the bridge, their parental duties done, returned to their old nest.
A Mute Swan descended on the Round Pond.
The Black Swan was preening his peculiar white wings.
Foxes lounged about in the Dell during a sunny interval.
The staring blue tit reminds me of Robert de niro in taxi driver...."you looking at me"?......regards, Stephen.
ReplyDeleteBlue Tits punch above their weight, attacking larger birds. They often knock Great Tits and Robins off my hand.
DeleteHow I wish all territories were defended by song. Birds ought to rule the earth and dictate behaviour to us.
ReplyDeleteTinúviel
As above, I don't think I'd like to see the behaviour of a Blue Tit scaled up to human size.
DeleteWell, I'm all for the seemingly weaker or smaller party giving a bloody nose to those larger or seemingly stronger!
DeleteTinúviel
[posting here again grrrrr] I wonder if Jays have ever thought of burying peanuts too.
ReplyDeleteI guess the Park management has acknowledged defeat and is giving up on enforcing their own norms, which is a tragic thought. Sad, and foreboding. It's unfortunately the same everywhere.
Tinúviel
I wonder whether the park management has any coherent thought at all. At the moment they are in the grip of a mania for putting up silly notices, always a sign of losing grip on reality.
Delete