A Wren rustled around in the undergrowth by the Henry Moore sculpture.
The Robin near the fountain in the Italian Garden hates being photographed, but I caught it when it was looking at something else.
It was a surprise to find the female Little Owl at the Round Pond out on a windy day with leaves flailing around her.
The female Peregrine on the tower was also ruffled by the wind.
Now that the broken pump that works the waterfall in the Dell has finally been mended, Wood Pigeons are making the most of the refilled pool at the top.
The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull had had his breakfast, and a Carrion Crow picked at the scanty remains.
Grey Herons chased each other on the path by the island.
A Great Crested Grebe chick on the Long Water was just taking a fish from its parent ...
... when a Black-Headed Gull flew in and they both had to dive.
Some of the adult grebes have gone into their plain winter plumage ...
... just as the Shoveller drakes are changing into their full finery.
Female Shovellers are quiet coloured but beautifully marked.
A family of Greylag Geese on the Serpentine enjoyed a wash together.
The last hornbeam seeds have fallen from the trees. A squirrel searched for them on the ground, and washed down the hard dry meal by drinking from a puddle.
The persistent patch of Green Alkanet at the bridge has been putting out flowers for months, and there are still plenty of Common Carder Bees to feed on them.
The base of the Big Bird statue at the Diana fountain is lined with rows of plaques recording donors to the Lookout. Some of these are unexpected.
I wonder what causes the variation of transaction into winter plumage from bird to bird, within the same species…
ReplyDeleteSean 😃
Is the pigeon eater upping his daily toll? Love the pictures of the shovellers and the unicorn is a great spot
ReplyDeleteNot sure. He doesn't always hunt in the same place, so you don't see all the remains. Several years ago I saw him kill three in one day.
DeleteThere's a story waiting to be written about that plaque.
ReplyDeleteTinúviel
I was disappointed to find that 'unicorn' is a business term meaning 'a privately held startup company with a current valuation of 1 billion US dollars or more'. And John William Templeton is a former editor of the San Jose Business Journal and has written about them. There is a company called Franklin Templeton which may have something to do with him, but as with most business affairs details are hard to find.
DeleteNone of which prevents anyone from writing a story about the plaque.