A Green Woodpecker preened and called on an oak near the Queen's Temple.
The Long-Tailed Tits at the southwest corner of the bridge were still busy with nest building.
Also present were the usual male Chaffinch ...
... and one of the Coal Tit pair, both expecting pine nuts.
Another Coal Tit was preening in cherry plum blossom in the Rose Garden.
Tom got a picture of a Greenfinch in Kensington Gardens yesterday. There are quite a few around the Long Water.
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A Jackdaw near Peter Pan waited impatiently for a peanut.
Virginia took this remarkable picture of one of last year's Grey Herons knocking an adult off a branch at the east end of the island. Young herons have little respect for their elders.
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All was peaceful in the nest at the other end, with one of the residents dozing. The other may have been sitting: in this deep nest they disappear when they sit down.
A view of the middle nest from the far side of the lake, with two young in the main nest and an adult on the upper level.
A Great Crested Grebe couple rested comfortably together near the lake outflow.
A pair of Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine have seven brand new goslings. They were feeding on the variety of weeds at the edge of the Triangle shrubbery.
Later they went along the shore to the area fenced off after the damage to the bridge. They are safe from dogs here, but not from a hungry Lesser Black-Backed Gull which stared at the mother sheltering her goslings under her wings. This gull has bright yellow feet but is not Pigeon Eater, who has no black on his bill.
The Egyptians who live in the Italian Garden have six almost equally tiny goslings, which they brought out on to the Long Water.
A pair of Mute Swans were inspecting the place where the killer swan nested last year, which is now vacant as the killer pair will nest on the Long Water island.
The Black Swan and his girlfriend had been given some food and were now having trouble with Black-Headed Gulls.
The Mandarin drake on the Serpentine was also being fed, watched by envious Feral Pigeons.
A queen Buff-Tailed Bumblebee browsed on a wallflower in the Rose Garden.
Hi Ralph,
ReplyDeleteWent up to Hyde Park today- didn't see the mandarin but I did catch the peregrines mating on the barracks. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get good footage of it as I don't have a good camera- perhaps we might see younger peregrines in the summer?
Aiken
PS love the blog as usual- always one of the highlights of my day.
DeleteThe Peregrines don't have anywhere to nest. If someone put a tray of gravel up there I'm sure they would. But try getting the army to do anything ...
DeleteHM Forces probably aren't too enthusiastic about folks pointing spotting scopes at their barracks (and placing a tray up there is also likely to make things even more fractious when the hobbies start nesting - have seen some very close calls in previous years). They do visit other buildings nearby though - there have been sightings on eg. the Natural History Museum, which ought to be a good location for a nest tray, and whose management might be more receptive.
DeleteWe still haven't established whether the Peregrines seen in the Cromwell Road are the same as those on the barracks or a different pair. In the latter case the ones on the museum are probably the ones from the deserted Holiday Inn tower.
DeleteThat's a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Ralph. Note the buffish base to the white. White-tailed never shows this & is pure white.
ReplyDeleteGreat antics by the Herons.
Thanks, have corrected it. I was misled by the bright yellow of the stripes, not the usual brownish orange.
DeletePeregrine Falcons at Cromwell Road this morning
ReplyDeleteTheodore
Saturday they stayed on HPB till almost too dark to see them on the ledge. Sunday they left after sunset, but I couldn't follow them - they often drop down to treetop level and get blocked. The tiercel seemed to go away roughly westwards, but they often take a circuitous route to where they want to roost.
DeleteVinny saw the male (or I ought to say the tiercel) flying from the barracks over the park this morning. I didn't see either till after 1 pm and they stayed in sight only a short time. But of course they sometimes go to the back of the ledge and disappear.
DeleteI've never had the luck to see a Queen Bumblebee. They must be so large and quite the sight! I hope she'll find a good place to nest.
ReplyDeleteTinúviel
I just looked up the places where Buff-Tailed Bumblebees nest. Apparently they prefer abandoned mouse nests. Since the park is overrun with mice there must be plenty of these. The Rose Garden has lots of flowers suitable for bumblebees all the year round, I think purely by chance. Mahonia and hellebore get them through the winter.
Delete