Cold weather makes the Great Tits and Blue Tits in the Flower Walk particularly eager for pine nuts.
A growing band of Great Tits is just as hungry in the shrubbery around the south end of the bridge.
A Song Thrush landed in a tree near the Queen's Temple, probably the one I filmed singing there a few weeks ago.
Both the male ...
... and the female Blackbird on the edge of the Rose Garden were hopping around in the bushes.
Goldcrests turn up in unexpected places. This one was in a tree near the Hyde Park bandstand.
The female Little Owl at the Round Pond was enjoying the sunshine.
A young Grey Heron looking for fish under the edge of the ice by the Triangle car park abandoned the search and flew off.
A Black-Headed Gull in the Italian Garden had won a bit of cake from the café.
The pair of Egyptian Geese who live here were looking forlorn on the ice.
But there was a pretty rainbow in the spray from a fountain.
Miscellaneous groups of birds hung around the edge of the ice on the frozen Long Water. They aren't enjoying this freezing spell, but they will survive and it will be over in a few days.
A Moorhen walked gingerly over thin ice .
Several Mute Swans on the Serpentine had broken out little pools in the ice and wandered around in the patch of clear water. They can make a path to any part of the lake by jumping on the ice to break it, but it's a considerable effort for them.
In a clear patch, the Black Swan and his girlfriend were in the middle of a feeding scrum at the edge.
The moon hung over Mayfair.
Hi Ralph - Was there a first-winter Caspian Gull on the Round Pond today?
ReplyDeleteNote seen by me, but more significantly not seen by Des McKenzie, who would never have missed it. Of course he would have had to be there at the right time. When I was at the pond most of the gulls were standing in a close crowd in the middle and it would have been easy to miss a rarity.
DeleteWow, the moon. I wasn't expecting that today. I love goldcrests but was very unlucky today. The Little Owl was not there but it had just left. No other birds were around when I walked around.
ReplyDeleteTheodore
Sorry you missed the owl. She was looking particularly lovely.
DeleteHi Ralph, is that where the parks management get their ideas from? the dark side of the moon ?..regards,Stephen..
ReplyDelete'She comes more near the earth than she was wont,
DeleteTo make men mad.'
I hope the small hungry birds appreciate that your poor wrist and hand must be freezing for their sake. It's amazing how they take turns to feed without bickering or colliding mid-air. Considering how desperately hungry they must be, double so.
ReplyDeleteSwans are the closest avian approximation to a nuclear ice-breaker!
They can land together on opposite sides of your hand without colliding. But for these quick birds it's just like strolling into a room.
Delete