Dunnocks are quiet and easy to miss as they forage under the bushes. The first was at the bridge, the second near the Lido restaurant.
A Wren in dead leaves near the Henry Moore sculpture would have been completely unnoticeable if it hadn't moved.
The local Robin perched above, waiting for a few pine nuts to be thrown on the ground.
A pair of Long-Tailed Tits are building a nest in the brambles at the southwest corner of the bridge. One was carrying a bit of lichen.
The pair of Great Tits in the Rose Garden shrubbery are getting quite demanding and follow me around.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling in a nearby Lombardy poplar whose dense twigs made it very hard to see.
A Starling showed off his colours on a tree near the Flower Walk. You can tell he's male by the tinge at the base of his bill: blue for boys, pink for girls.
The female Peregrine turned up on the tower at 2.30, apparently by herself.
Below her on the football fields children shouted and whistles blasted as a Magpie probed the ground for insects and worms.
A Jackdaw perched on a plane branch by the Round Pond. They are learning that the only way to get a peanut without being divebombed by Carrion Crows is to come down on the ground as close as possible.
A crow was not interested in the daffodils. It wanted a peanut.
Only one of this pair of Herring Gulls on the Parade Ground was dancing. It was the other one that got the worm. The dancer disapproved.
A Grey Heron parent was standing on the upper nest again. Perhaps they choose this place to avoid being pestered by their young.
The heron on the east nest was standing up. So when it was sitting yesterday it wasn't because there were eggs, it was just to get out of the strong wind.
The Moorhen was in the pool at the top of the Dell waterfall again. This may be the bird that we saw being beaten up by the resident pair two days ago, which has retreated to a safe place.
The killer male Mute Swan was preening below the marble fountain in the Italian Garden. A Black-Headed Gull ignored this huge menacing creature.
A female Gadwall picked off algae in the shallow water at the edge of the Serpentine.
Home past the Albert Memorial, shining in the afternoon sunlight.
How remarkable of the sex indication in Starlings! Is this only visible in the breeding months to signal to partners Ralph?
ReplyDeleteSean
What a gorgeous picture of the Albert Memorial, hit by the light in such a way as to make it look out of a fairytale. As always!
ReplyDeleteGulls have an odd lack of sense of self-preservation, not to be worried by the hulking menace standing so near.
It's an absurd structure, not a building at all, a gigantic version of a medieval reliquary. If it were a Gothic building it would collapse immediately, as the arches would spread and force out the columns. But in fact it's a mighty iron frame on which the stonework is merely cladding. The spire is made entirely of metal. Nikolaus Pevsner described it as 'the worst building in the world'. I love it.
DeletePeregrine Falcons were on the tower yesterday afternoon. I believe two but one was certainly at Cromwell Road
ReplyDeleteTheodore
I had to leave the park at 2.30 when they were still on the barracks. I suppose you'd have have seen them in the Cromwell Road later than that, so still no overlap.
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