It seemed that the Redwings had left the Parade Ground when their favourite spot was covered in new turf, so that they could no longer hop about on the bare ground. But today they were back in quite a large number, dealing quite happily with the grass which is still quite short. One had to work hard to get a worm.
A Blackbird dug busily in the grass in the Dell. It didn't seem to be finding anything. It should have gone up to the Parade Ground, only a few yards up the hill, where there's no shortage of worms.
A Rose-Ringed Parakeet in the Rose Garden picked blossom off a cherry tree, chewed each flower for a moment to get a bit of nectar, and spat it out. Their wasteful feeding habit causes far more damage than that of native birds such as Wood Pigeons.
A Jackdaw on the grass below deftly extracted a peanut from its shell.
Virginia got a fine shot of a Green Woodpecker licking up ants. This was by the flood in the lower part of the Meadow. You never know where Green Woodpeckers are going to turn up: they fly around over a large area.
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A Blue Tit at Mount Gate got very impatient when I was trying to photograph it against a pretty background and didn't feed it at once. It flew around in front of my face, and I had to settle for a picture on the railings before feeding it.
A Coal Tit was more cooperative and posed against a background of yellow forsythia blossom.
A Goldcrest perched for a moment in a barberry bush at the northwest corner of the bridge.
A Wren dashed around in a hawthorn near the Queen's Temple.
The young Grey Herons on the island were in the upper nest, and a parent kept out of their way in the lower one. Having a split-level nest has been most convenient for them.
The heron in the nest at the west end of the island still doesn't seem to be sitting on eggs. Our herons do seem to shilly-shally for a long time, sometimes months, before getting around to breeding, and it's unusual to have at the same time one early nest with chicks and another bird sitting -- that's the one at the other end of the island.
A Coot in a new nest at the Lido ticked irritably at a harmless Moorhen that just happened to be going past.
The Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine are inevitably losing goslings and are down to four. They unwisely confronted a Mute Swan ...
... which went for one of the goslings ...
... but luckily it escaped and the family retreated hastily.
Glad to see you have reasonable numbers of Redwing, Ralph. They seem less widespread this winter around London. I've found Kew Gardens has been reliable & had c50 moving through tree tops when I was there last week.
ReplyDeleteWe had a sudden surge of redwings last weekend in our local cemetery (West Norwood) which made me wonder if they were fleeing south from cold weather - or heading back up north. Thoughts? But generally I have had to make a special effort to see them this year - and thanks for your advice on that
ReplyDeleteThey may have been passing through on their way north. And ours will be going soon, if they haven't gone already.
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