Cherry blossom at Mount Gate made a background for a Blue Tit ...
... a Coal Tit ...
... and a Robin ...
... while a Blackbird sang in new leaves in the next tree.
A Song Thrush sang near Peter Pan.
The Goldcrests nesting at the bridge were rushing in and out of the yew tree.
The Long-Tailed Tits in the Rose Garden were also hard at work building their nest. Ahmet Amerikali got a fine picture of one of them pulling spider web off a gas lamp post.
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The usual Chaffinch didn't turn up in Kensington Gardens. He had crossed the bridge into Hyde Park and was waiting for his pine nuts on the railings at the Triangle. He has a very wide range, which extends all the way to the Round Pond in the other direction.
A young Herring Gull played the game of running along the line of plastic buoys at the Lido, jumping off each one before it overbalanced and tipped the gull in the water.
Pigeon Eater and his mate looked down from their favourite place on the roof of the Dell restaurant.
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One of the Grey Heron chicks on the island grabbed its parent's bill, demanding to be fed.
A Great Crested Grebe cruised elegantly past Fisherman's Keep.
A second brood of six Coot chicks has come out from a nest in one of the Italian Garden fountains.
One chick of the nine in the first nest climbed back up after being fed on the water.
The ferocious Mute Swan and his mate tolerated a Coot and a Moorhen on their nesting island. Coots usually nest on the edge of the island and so far have been left in peace. They are too small to be considered a threat.
Another pair of swans mated on the Serpentine. They will have to find somewhere to nest and there are few suitable places. But the Black Swan's nesting attempt seems to have fizzled out, so they could take a site east of the Lido.
The Egyptian Geese in the Italian Garden rested under the kerb of a pool, ignoring the humans walking past inches away.
The Mallard at the boathouse still has five ducklings.
A beautiful set of pictures.
ReplyDeleteParticularly the brood of ducklings.
Many thanks.
Thank you. Ducklings are lovely but it's agony watching them taken by the gulls, one by one. She had 13 when she started.
DeleteIt's got to a point where I will just glance past ducklings pictures, much as I love them. It hurts too much and I don't want to get attached.
DeleteTinúviel
That Chaffinch is such a handmade fellow. The young Herring Gull brings back memories of ‘Its a Knockout’.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne
The Chaffinch is a great character. He follows me all over the park, catching thrown pine nuts in midair. His legs and feet are in a bad state from papillomavirus infection, but he doesn't let that slow him down.
DeleteIt seems to me that Herring Gulls, as a species, are significantly more playful than other gulls. They're almost corvid-tier in their love of play.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if small birds have learned that looking pretty and choosing a gorgeous background to look pretty against will net them more pine nuts?
Tinúviel
There aren't enough Lesser Black-Backed Gulls on the lake for me to know whether the young ones love play as much as young Herring Gulls. But I suspect it's a general big gull thing, not just HGs.
DeleteI don't know about choosing backgrounds -- birds' attitude to blossom is very practical, is it edible, does it have bugs in it? -- but they certainly learn to allow themselves to be photographed. My favourite Coal Tit used to be impossibly skittish. Now it lets me take a few pictures because it knows it will get a pine nut afterwards.