It rained heavily for most of the morning and early afternoon. Looking out on to the Serpentine from the shelter of the tunnel under the bridge you could see a procession of young Mute Swans, a Black-Headed Gull and two Cormorants on the posts at the bridge, and another Cormorant flying in from the river.
Rainy days are often a surprisingly good time to see shy birds that stay in the bushes when people are milling around. Thrushes welcome rain, as it brings up worms. You seldom see Mistle Thrushes in the park now, and this one is probably a winter migrant ...
... but this Song Thrush is one of the resident pair at the Henry Moore sculpture.
A female Blackbird came out on the path at the Vista.
A Robin was bedraggled but bustling about ...
... while a Blue Tit was just soggy and sad..
Long-Tailed Tits have to keep going in all weathers in their endless chase for insects.
A Jay looked absolutely miserable ...
... and a Magpie not much better.
Another Magpie found something in a puddle ...
... but it turned out to be just a bit of wood and was dropped.
Feral Pigeons in the Dell huddled on the imitation menhir which is part of the carefully constructed scene. It's a block of Cornish granite set on end, and originally contained a drinking fountain before the Dell was railed off in 1922 to be a bird sanctuary as a memorial to the naturalist W.H. Hudson.
The female Little Owl at the Round Pond understandably stayed in her hole. You could hardly see her in the dim light.
A Grey Heron waited stoically beside the Long Water.
It was business as usual for a Moorhen looking for small creatures in the grass at the Vista.
The Gadwall drake in the Italian Garden ...
... and the young Great Crested Grebe at Peter Pan probably didn't even notice the downpour. They live in a world of water.
The rain did stop later in the afternoon. A Pied Wagtail came out to look for insects along the edge at the Lido.
Everybody looks miserable. What a miserable day. I hope you didn't get dreched.
ReplyDeleteI did. Even with serious clothing the wet gets in eventually.
DeleteGood to see the Mistle Thrush. Certainly a bird I see far less often around here the last couple of years.
ReplyDeleteThere were at leaat two breeding pairs in Kensington Gardens, and another in the Dell, but their nests were almost always predated by corvids and I haven't seen any nesting during the last year. There were two singing males in Kensington Gardens, so they haven't died out.
DeleteAs horrible as it can be, being out in the pouring rain. I rather like it and find it quite therapeutic indeed.
ReplyDeleteSean