Thursday 23 November 2023

More Peregrines

A Goldcrest dashed around in a silver birch near the Italian Garden.


A Magpie shone finely on the railings.


A Jay looked out of an English oak ...


... and two Jackdaws at the leaf yard had the red leaves of an American oak as a background.


Pied Wagtails ran around in the grass beside the Round Pond ...


... and the female Little Owl glared angrily at a squirrel on her tree.


A Starling took a chip from a plate at the Lido restaurant.


This is one of a newly found pair of Peregrines, soaring over the Cromwell Road in the light of the setting sun.


The dominant Black-Headed Gull who owns the landing stage at the Diana fountain patrolled his patch of shore, calling to warn off any other gulls who might dare to approach. He has got the dark head of his breeding plumage long in advance of the other gulls, which may be a sign of his superior status.


Two Grey Herons were fighting over the Long Water, and the loser was forced to splash down. It had no trouble about taking off again: one sweep of its huge wings got it airborne.


A young Cormorant preened on a post.


Reflections of autumn trees made a background for a band of Shovellers.


A Pochard drake stared seriously at the Vista ...


,,, and a single Gadwall rested at Peter Pan.


The dominant Mute Swan family were back on the Serpentine. They swaggered ashore, causing alarm among waterfowl and humans alike.


A family left the Winter Wasteland burdened with a giant stuffed dog.

19 comments:

  1. Hi Ralph, wonderful pic of the peregrine, (your pic?)..why do people buy such silly things? A stuffed dog ?!!......never mind, have bought a Sony DSLR today...keep up the good work with the blog...regards,Stephen.

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  2. Yes, my picture, and a lucky one. Better a stuffed dog than an anthropomorphic banana, I suppose. Have fun with the camera. Sony menus are a nightmare of complexity but you eventually remember where the few settings you actually need are.

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    1. And better a stuffed dog than a real one

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    2. There's a man I see in the park every morning with three immense woolly dogs far bigger than him. I've never been able to discover their breed, but always wonder how much it costs to feed them.

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  3. Lucky ? I'll say !!!.the Sony I bought is a A230 with 2 lenses, one goes to 300mm......charger/lowepro case etc,etc......should be able to take some good pics, again your inspiration........regards,Stephen.

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  4. It must have been quite the spectacle to see all and sundry scattering in front of the determined march of the swan family. I can understand that the waterfowl would only know them all too well, but I wonder about humans giving ground so easily.

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    1. The swans went straight on the attacks, bullying a human couple that they thought had food. I couldn't get a picture as other people were standing in front of them.

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  5. It was a glorious day to be in the park yesterday & good to bump into you & Tom.

    You had a closer view of a Peregrine than I di, which was very high near the Winter Wonderland.

    Five to ten minutes after we left you we had a very surprise encounter. Landing at the edge of the meadow behind a small structure that resembles a small band stand, east of the Long Water, was a Lapwing. It stood here for a few minutes but flew up as somebody walked in its direction, did a couple of low laps over the area before heading high. Not a bird seen everyday in the park.

    Suspect far more regular as a flyover, usually when cold temperatures hit the countryside.

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  6. A remarkable sighting, especially as errant shorebirds usually appear on the Round Pond, which is more visible from a distance than the lake. Several years ago two juvenile Lapwings appeared af the east end of the Serpentine. They were completely naive and wandered about among people having picnics on the grass.

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  7. I saw the Peregrine three times today and saw it incredibly closely, even chasing a Sparrowhawk. It hovered around and then landed on an antenna
    Theodore

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  8. If you can get some more photos, it'd be useful to compare them to the birds on Hyde Park Barracks. I think, but can't be sure, it's the same pair that frequent Hyde Park Barracks, the location you saw them at, and another prominent landmark more or less between the two (and which management might be more easily persuaded to put up a nest box/tray than those of the other two).

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    1. Well, there's one clincher if anyone can spot it. The female at the barracks has a red or orange plastic ring on her left ankle.

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    2. I could check other locations between the two towers
      Theodore

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  9. Thanks, that would be helpful. If I could see the pair together I would be fairly sure, as the Knightsbridge female has a much whiter front and more white on the side of her face than the male, who is rather grubby looking.

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  10. I know that there is certainly a pair on the Cromwell road. I saw them on the day this blog was posted

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    1. Please report if you get a good view and see whether they correspond to the desription of the Knightsbridge pair above.

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    2. Seems like the building they are on is now being redeveloped. This would be an opportune moment to persuade the developers to make provision for them, as has been done at other locations eg. Battersea. It doesn't need to be a £45,000 undertaking (as a news report claims was the case at Battersea) either. All they'd really need is a gravel-filled tray on a sheltered part of the building.

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  11. Not so much redeveoped as deserted, from what I can see. There is a caretaker but I can see no sign of any work being done.

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