One of the Goldcrests nesting by the bridge brought a feather to the nest. They are already feeding chicks here, and evidently the nest lining needs renewing.
A Long-Tailed Tit across the path brought some midges to its nestlings in the brambles.
The Coal Tit peeped out of a bush.
A Blue Tit is nesting in a gas lamp post beside Rotten Row.
A Wood Pigeon drank from the Serpentine, which is slightly unusual ...
... as, like most birds, they prefer rainwater in puddles. Perhaps the water in the lake, which comes from a borehole, tastes unpleasantly alkaline.
A Carrion Crow had been given a crisp. They don't like crisp things, so it was dunked in a puddle.
There was a report of a Common Redstart at the south end of Buck Hill. I searched the area diligently, but it must have moved on.
The Grey Heron chicks in the nest at the east end of the island are getting quite boisterous.
Seven herons were having a disagreement on the shore ...
... and one of the young ones from the earlier brood was jumping about on the gravel strip in the Long Water.
A Great Crested Grebe preened its shining white underside by the bridge.
It's always feeding time for the Coot chicks in the Italian Garden.
The single Egyptian gosling at the Lido fed peacefully on the grassy bank, watched by its mother.
But things have not gone so well for the others, and the pair at the east end of the Serpentine are down to seven goslings ...
... and the pair just beyond the Lido have only one left.
The Mallard ducklings have suffered too and there are now only five. Their mother was being harassed by two drakes.
It began to rain. The single Mandarin drake didn't care.
Red Campion is in bloom beside the Henry Moore sculpture.
Brilliant shot of the Long-Tailed Tit with midges in its mouth!
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to witness a Grey Heron gang dispute like that!
Sean
Incredible shot of the Goldcrest carrying a feather!
ReplyDeleteWhat were the Herons disagreeing about? Ours tend to be isolationists and won't talk to each other, let alone bicker with one another.
Tinúviel
Someone was feeding them, so they gathered and inevitably got too close to each other. The shot also shows how many herons there are on the island now. As far as I know, the only active nest are those at the east and west ends of the island, but sometimes our herons don't breed till summer so we may get more.
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