The nesting Grey Heron on the island was standing up in the nest and looking down into it. This may mean that the chicks are hatching, or have hatched. Confirmation won't come till later when they have grown a bit and start clattering their bills as they beg to be fed.
Its mate was waiting patiently on the next tree.
The heron with the red bill was on last year's nest at the end of the island, still waiting for a mate which certainly won't arrive. It really needs to get out and about to find a new one.
A heron on the Long Water was staring into the brambles on the edge. There's a chance of a rat on the shore or a fish in the water. But there are also the sharp thorns on the brambles. Last year there was a heron at the bridge with an eye injury, which luckily healed.
Milder, though windy, weather brought people back to the terrace of the Lido restaurant. The young heron was hanging around the edge hoping for scraps.
Someone was throwing food to the birds by the Dell restaurant, and the pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull joined the mob (at bottom left in the first scene) hoping to grab a victim. This time the wary Feral Pigeons managed to elude him.
The Winter Wasteland is still being dismantled, but there's already enough clear ground for bold Lesser Black-Backed Gulls to fly in and look for worms in the ruined turf. The smaller birds won't dare to come till the disturbance is over.
This is a picture from yesterday, when the ice on the Long Water was still thick and solid. A Lesser Black-Backed Gull (not the pigeon eater) was eating the corpse of a pigeon which was frozen into the ice. I'm sure the pigeon was already dead when it was dropped here. A Feral Pigeon can take off from water, though a Wood Pigeon can't.
A Common Gull walked past a Lesser Black-Backed Gull and a Black-Headed Gull to investigate a twig in today's melting ice.
Caroline Reay sent a link to an interesting article by the Londonist, revealing the surprising fact that there were almost no gulls in central London till the end of the 19th century.
The Great Crested Grebes were still hanging around under the willow by the bridge where they nested last year. It's a good fishing spot as well as a nest site, as the agile grebes can dive between the submerged branches of the willow in places Cormorants can't go.
The gang of five teenage Mute Swans were in open water by the Diana fountain reed bed, along with some Canada Geese and a Grey Heron.
But on the other side of the Serpentine wind-blown broken ice has drifted against the shore, hampering the movements of the swans. They can push through it, but it's an effort.
Pochards driven off the Long Water by the ice were clustered at the east end of the island, along with some Tufted Ducks.
A pair of Egyptian Geese preened on a fallen tree on the Long Water.
As I went home past the statue of Physical Energy I was spotted by the usual Chaffinch, who flew over to demand pine nuts. This is not his usual territory and he must have spotted me from a long way off.
In the Flower Walk the dominant Robin ...
... several Blue Tits ...
... and a horde of Great Tits including the one with the overgrown bill were waiting for their daily treat.
That Great Tit has been telling a few porky pies!!..
ReplyDeleteInteresting if, as the film appears to show, the pigeons risk being approached much closer by other Larus gulls. You would think that at least a proportion of those gulls would instinctively turn on the pigeons, or that the pigeons would have become afraid of them all. And the pigeons wouldn't stand such close approach by a Carrion Crow, or would they? Jim
ReplyDeleteSeveral gulls have evidently watched Pigeon Eater at work and have been having a go themselves. The trouble for them is that they aren't good at it. It took years for Pigeon Eater to improve his skill to the point where he can get one victim a day, an even now most of his attacks fail. Simply, pigeons can take off faster than gulls. The most promising apprentice is the LBB with pale legs at the Triangle car park, who is getting noticeably better at the job but even so only gets an occasional kill.
DeleteI hope there aren't any chicks yet, Ralph. Those gusts of wind tonight sound pretty scary. I expect the park to be closed tomorrow for a bit.
ReplyDeleteJenna
I think there are. Sitting first observed on 22 December, and the incubation period is about 25 days. Heron nests are well made and fairly windproof. The chief cause of collapse is excessive weight breaking the branch.
DeleteI'm fighting my natural tendency to be maudlin, but there is something so sad in the thought of the lone heron waiting for a mate that will never arrive.
ReplyDeletePigeon Eater is one of its kind. I wonder how he got the idea of hunting pigeons with his very idiosyncratic technique in the first place. It doesn't look like something he saw other gull do.
It's quite usual for any big gull to eat chicks, so they have the predatory instinct baked in. Also, he's very big for a Lesser Black-Back, the size of an average Herring Gull. So he has instinct and opportunity, and goes for it. There are gull species that are naturally predatory, such as the closely related Yellow-Legged Gull. Others include the California Gull and, of course, the huge and terrifying Great Black-Back which is an out-and-out predator and even eats gulls.
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