A sad sight: the beautiful old Weeping Beech tree in the Flower Walk has fallen down. Only two hours before, Tom and I had been standing under it. Luckily no one else was at the time.
Undeterred by the crash only a few yards away, the dominant Robin came out to collect some pine nuts.
Just along the path, fallen yew fruits attracted a rat. The red aril of the fruit is sweet and edible. The seed inside, like all other parts of the tree, is poisonous. Evidently the very hard seed passes through rat's intestines undigested. I knew this happened with birds, but I would have expected a mammal's digestion to be slower and more through.
The first Redwings have arrived in the park, weeks after they were seen in other parts of the London area. This one was on the west side of the leaf yard.
A Long-Tailed Tit was poised for takeoff in a variegated holly tree.
The Little Owl at the Round Pond was out in her usual tree.
There were half a dozen Pied Wagtails on the grass below. A male gave the camera an inquisitive stare.
A female looked around for a flying insect passing by.
A Carrion Crow perched disrespectfully on the statue of Queen Victoria. This has been repaired, and her battered right hand replaced. It's good to see that they have got her thumb the right way round this time.
The Black Swan is still on the pond, looking as fine as ever.
This is the Mute cygnet whose mother led it up from the lake to escape the murderous male. It has been growing very slowly, but it is definitely getting bigger and is free from persecution.
It was fairly quiet at the Lido restaurant, and a Magpie dozed on a chair.
All the birds love mayonnaise, and a crow had found a well smeared plate.
A Black-Headed Gull had found what looks like a chicken nugget. It was pursued by a Coot and had to fly away.
The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull had finished his lunch and was washing the blood off his face.
%20washing%20his%20face%202023%201a.jpg)
Cormorants clustered all the way round the island. There are 16 in this picture, and that's only around the posts at the west end.
A sunny spell brought out several Common Carder Bees on a plant in the Flower Walk which PlantNet tells me is Glossy Abelia.
There were Yellow Fieldcap mushrooms in the dead leaves near the Italian Garden. They are only yellow when they have just come up, and fade and wither in the course of a single day.
How sad to see the weeping beech tree fall down...lovely to see some redwings in the park, a fine species not at all like you to make a TYPO.... (Prsued). regards,Stephen..
ReplyDeleteIt's generally Jim who picks me up on typos. You haven't seen me type, a sad performance with two fingers. Wish they'd taught this at school, but typing was for girls in those days when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
DeleteI am not much better myself... Have only just really got into iPads and other such things (prefer Samsung products)..anyway.you DEF have a real talent for photography !!......best regards,Stephen...
DeleteThank you.
DeleteI mostly gave up remarking on the typos, I try to be sparing with pedantry (see what I did there, a comma splice). Also back in the mists of pre-history, I taught myself touch-typing on a portable electric typewriter, when secretaries still typed most office letters. Jim
DeleteSo do I elsewhere. Pedantry is easy, shutting up is harder. I tried a computer touch typing course. I could do the exercises but they didn't transfer to real work.
DeleteThank God it didn't fall down while you were in the vicinity.
ReplyDeleteDunno about disrespectful. It looks to me as if the crow is playing Hugin to Queen Victoria's Odin. That must be high praise indeed, even if it's a crow and not a raven.
Tinúviel
Standing on the shoulder is respectful, from Odin to Long John Silver. Standing on the head shows a desire to dominate. See the picture of Headbanger that is my Instagram avatar. He has no respect for anyone.
DeleteHeadbanger may be an extreme case, though!
DeleteHe's the essence of extremity.
DeleteOh no! The poor tree. I really loved that one, it was certainly one of my favourite trees in the park. Also, wonderful news about Redwing arrivals. I will soon be off to look for some.
ReplyDeleteTheodore