It was a very dark and drizzly day, and I'm afraid today's pictures are a poor lot.
The dominant Black-Headed Gull that claims the landing stage as its property has no difficulty in seeing off other gulls that try to perch on it. But Moorhens can frighten Black-Headed Gulls, and enjoy their power. After pushing the gull around for a while it tired of the game, jumped down and swam off.
A Moorhen in the Italian Garden took the opportunity of damp feathers to have a preen.
The Great Crested Grebes that nested under the willow near the bridge met in the middle of the Long Water and greeted each other ceremoniously ...
... then went to inspect their old nest site.
They can't breed successfully till the stock of small fish increases in the summer, and this pair know it and waited till the right time last season. I don't think they intend to nest soon, but a grebe's basic instinct is to nest early and they can't resist making a gesture.
Grey Herons can and do breed in midwinter, and this pair on the island have certainly started. The sitting bird was hunkered down out of sight, and its mate was on its usual perch where it waits when off the nest. Both sexes take turns to incubate the eggs.
The killer Mute Swan and his family saw me standing on the edge and hurried over hoping to be fed. They were disappointed.
The pair of Egyptian Geese at the Italian Garden enjoyed a muddy puddle.
A waterproof Pochard stood on the shore.
The worryingly low number of Tufted Ducks has increased -- probably they fly around the central London parks more or less at random. There was a group of around 30 all along the Diana fountain reed bed ...
... and more at the east end of the island with some Shovellers. Including stragglers on other parts of the lake I'd say that we have at least 50 at the moment.
A Pied Wagtail ignored the drizzle and hunted along the shore.
The pair of Coal Tits at Mount Gate are regularly seen, but there are never more than a few of these charming little birds in the park.
The pair of Magpies between the bridge and the Vista are always visible, because they expect to be fed. They were on their favourite lookout point at the top of a holly tree.
A Magpie by the Round Pond perched in a young oak which was keeping its leaves over the winter.
The Little Owl at the back of her hole was practically invisible in the dim light.
We've had 48 hours straight of continuous fog, so deep and thick we can't even see a metre away. We had to cancel a birding expedition today because we wouldn't see a bird not even if it hopped on top of our feet. Has it been very foggy in London lately?
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Grebes are doing as newly married couples used to do of old, go check out how the reforms in the marital home are shaping up.
No more than faint mist here, and the Thames valley is a foggy place.
DeleteGrebe nests are frail and transient structures, and not a twig remains of last season's nest. But of course the site can be reused to make another sloppy mess of a nest.
Many of the sites I regularly visit seem to have low Tufted Duck numbers at the moment, though when I visited Staines Reservoirs a couple of weeks back to see the two diver species present There were several hundred there; the only species there in any number.
ReplyDeleteHard to see why. It doesn't seem likely that it's caused by fluctuations in the food supply, though there was a late cold spring.
DeleteYes I don't know why Ralph. There's been talk on one of my What'sapp groups of many waterbodies in west London with lower than normal numbers of Shoveler.
ReplyDeleteThose have declined in the park, but gradually over years. A decade ago we used to get at least 50, one year 200. I put this down to rival attractions: Rainham, Walthamstow, Barnes etc.
DeleteWhen I was at Barnes about 3 weeks ago Shoveler numbers seemed much lower than usual- I only counted 15, Sometimes a 100 or more.
DeleteYesterday we visited Ruislip Lido & just a pair. By far most numerous was Gadwall with 90 birds compared to say just 9 Mallard. Good to see 3 Wigeon & much more unusual there (probably only my second site record) of 3 Red-crested Pochard.
All the more mysterious when you consider that these are much more natural places than Hyde Park, and you'd expect numbers to be more stable. Here the random-seeming variations in wildfowl numbers are largely the result of the inner London park population wandering from one park to another.
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