It was a horrible day with an icy northeast wind and snow showers. But the show must go on, for both birds and photographers.
The Common Gull occupying the sign near the Dell restaurant was unmoved ...
... and the Black-Headed Gull EZ73301, who usually stands here, had to stay on the ground.
The gull on the landing stage was still in possession of his post.
There were few people in the park, allowing gulls to straggle all over the shore.
The Grey Heron waiting to change places with his mate on the nest was on his usual station, looking miserable.
It was business as usual for the male Great Crested Grebe from the west end of the island ...
... but the wind encouraged the one from the other end to have a bit of flying practice. A headwind makes it much easier for them to get airborne.
A Moorhen looked for food along the shore of the Serpentine as the chilly waves broke over its feet.
A Cormorant turned up hopefully in the Italian Garden. I'm sure the Cormorants have more or less fished out the pools, as they do every year. Only the largest and the smallest fish survive.
A Pied Wagtail investigated the rubber matting on the Lido jetty.
A Starling poked in the grass near the Round Pond, probably looking for wireworms.
The Winter Wasteland will take weeks to clear, but then we shall get plenty of Redwings. Meanwhile there are a few between the Round Pond and the leaf yard.
A honeysuckle bush near the Rose Garden has blossomed strangely early. Of course the Wood Pigeons were taking advantage of it.
The wintersweet bush in the Flower Walk, at the crossing from Queen's Gate, was full of hungry Great Tits ...
... and the usual pair of Chaffinches -- this is the male.
When the Rose-Ringed Parakeets saw birds being fed they quickly muscled in. They are a severe nuisance.
As I was passing the Henry Moore sculpture a large fox rushed up from behind me, squeezed through the railings, and galloped across the lawn into the bushes. I was taken by surprise and only managed to get one poor shot as it passed.
Readers will probably have heard of the very rare American bird that has turned up at Heybridge in Essex, a Northern Waterthrush. Tom energetically spent three chilly days trying to find it, and finally got a picture soon after dawn yesterday.
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Hi Ralph, that must be the first pic of a great crested grebe flying I can remember seeing !...well done to Tom for persevering getting the waterthrush pic....I remember those parakeets, and agree with you, there ARE a nuisance .........regards,Stephen.
ReplyDeleteI have several pictures of grebes flying, sadly none of them good. It's very hard to catch, happening suddenly and the bird moving fast.
DeleteYes, birds in flight ARE hard to capture, way beyond my feeble skills at the moment, although I did get a nice kingfisher shot today..regards,Stephen.
ReplyDeleteYour poor fingers.Winter cold pictures may look lovely, but it means so much suffering for the photographer.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever seen a Grebe in flight.
I've seen one at treetop height, coming in over Hyde Park Corner from St James's Park. But only once. Normally they travel at night to avoid raptors.
DeleteI was in the park today and sadly no owls were about and neither were the Peregrines. I did find a mouse in a bush though which was interesting and a Great Tit in the flower gardens that had half a beak and the top half that was there was curved. The strangest thing I have ever seen on a Great Tit. I also saw my first Redwings of the year in the leaf garden but sadly no woodpeckers this year. Last year, the park was full of them.
ReplyDeleteTheodore
I've seen several Great Tits with deformed beaks in the Flower Walk over the years. Always Great, but then that's the commonest species in the park.
DeleteI hear woodpeckers of both species on most days. Seeing them is another matter, and in dark winter weather photographs are often impossible.