A pair of Grey Herons has just arrived on the Serpentine island and started building a nest. This may be the pair that nested successfully last January and fledged two young. The other herons here tend to hang around for months before they start.
They aren't easy to see through the twigs. A video may help slightly.
The heron with the red bill, which is claiming a nest site a few yards to the west, was down on the shore of the island ...
... and so was the other one which is usually seen on a patch or grass growing in one of the floating baskets.
A Pied Wagtail trotted around on the tarmac beside the lake. It seems unlikely that there's much to eat on this barren surface, so it was probably picking up grit.
A Moorhen wandered up the edge looking for anything edible -- and Moorhens will eat just about anything.
The very dark Great Crested Grebe has a mate. I hadn't seen the two together before. They were near the bridge, but are not the pair that nested here in the summer, which were on the Long Water.
At the east end of the lake the young Mute Swan from Regent's Park, in the foreground here, had been joined by one of the gang of five teenagers belonging to the killer swan. There was no sign of conflict -- so far.
Among the swans clustered here were the pair that nested on the island. The male has the ring 4FYG. Their single cygnet had to be taken away to the Swan Sanctuary to save it from the killer.
Pochards rested under a tree on the Long Water.
The Peregrines were on the barracks, perched far apart so they couldn't be photographed together. This is the female ...
... and this is the distinctly dark male.
As I went over to them I passed a pair of Magpies rummaging in the dead leaves under a willow. The abandoned their search to be given peanuts.
The Little Owl at the Round Pond kept watch from inside her hole.
A small band of Great Tits is now turning up regularly in the Portuguese laurel by the bridge.
A Robin perched in the corkscrew hazel in the Flower Walk.
On the waterfront by the statue of Peter Pan, Kate Bingham (on the left) and Hannah Parry delighted the passers by with a piece by Handel. They are two members of a recorder trio called Triple Fipple.
A delicate and precise piece by handel.in stark contrast to the antics of most (clumsy looking).herons.except when they catch a fish of course !!.regards,Stephen.
ReplyDeleteHerons are also brilliant and precise low-speed fliers. Watch one landing on a slim branch.
DeleteVery overly eager Grey Herons started their nesting duties so soon. They must like to get ahead of the competition, and know the arms race to be scarce. Is this common in Herons or are they just keen parents.
ReplyDeleteSean
That Heron is certainly in breeding condition. Conditions are relatively mild at the moment, though who knows what January will have in store? Wish them success.
ReplyDeleteLovely scene of the loafing Pochard with a Cormorant in the background.
The herons in Battersea Park have succeeded for years in nesting around the New Year, and it was our park that was the odd one out with the herons not getting their act together till summer. I think breeding time depends to some extent on the fish supply, as it certainly does with grebes, but since herons feed their young with regurgitated fish mash the size of the fish is not important. Almost all the Cormorants have left now, a sign that they have stripped the fish population down to the level of diminishing returns from their greedy point of view, but I think the clever and patient herons would always be able to find enough.
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