The pair of Chaffinches in the Flower Walk followed me all the way to the Round Pond, taking pine nuts thrown up in the air. They clearly enjoy the skill of catching them as well as the food. The female was impatient at being photographed for a few seconds instead of getting fed.
Here the Little Owl was in her usual place in the hole. There may not be a better shot as winter sets in, but it's very pleasing to be able to see a Little Owl so late in the year.
Starlings were bathing on the edge of the pond. A familiar sight, but their enthusiasm is irresistible.
On the way back a Jay appeared in an oak near the Queen's Temple.
One of the pair of Pied Wagtails investigated a puddle on the edge of the Serpentine ...
... and the Grey Wagtail was on the small waterfall in the Dell.
A handsome pale bronze Feral Pigeon stood on a table at the Lido restaurant.
Back in the Flower Walk, a squirrel was feeding in a dogwood bush. There were a few small black berries left, but the squirrel wasn't going for these. It seemed to like the bunches of bare stems where the berries had been pulled off, which must contain some sweet sap.
You only have to stand in front of a bush for a few minutes and it fills up with Great Tits and Blue Tits.
The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull had eaten enough of his latest victim for the time being ...
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... and for a change plunged into the feeding mob by the Dell restaurant, where visitors to the Winter Wasteland were throwing bread around. He can hold his own against the much larger Canada Geese.
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The nearby sign was occupied by a Common Gull.
The Grey Heron which had been making a nest yesterday perched just above it in the tree. It seems to be establishing possession of the site, though there's no competition at the moment.
The number of Cormorants is well down from its autumn peak, showing that they've eaten most of the fish.
This Great Crested Grebe on the Serpentine is still in summer plumage, and you can see that it is old plumage and not a premature new set, because its crest is worn and frayed.
Photographed just because it's pretty: flowering tobacco in the Dell.
During the war my father, who smoked a pipe, grew his own tobacco to supplement the meagre ration. He said that it was horrible but better than nothing. No doubt the plant needs more sun than you get here.
The leaves of our tobacco plants (one of the main crops in Extremadura) are very large and shiny. Perhaps there are several species? The flowers are very similar.
ReplyDeleteThe plants in the Dell have leaves lower down which are about 10cm long and slightly but not very shiny. I've seen tobacco drying in Thailand and the leaves were larger. But my father would have been trying to grow a smoking variety, not one chosen as here for pretty flowers.
DeleteGosh, amazing, I've never heard of home grown tobacco before. I wonder if people will start again - should be better with global warming and we have a cost of living crisis
ReplyDeleteThe plant grows all right, but something about the English climate makes it go wrong, either at the growing stage or at the drying stage.
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