A female Magpie fluttered her wings, begging her mate (and perhaps me too) to feed her. She needs to know that he will bring her food when she's nesting.
The bold Robin at Mount Gate doesn't need to beg. It knows that it can have all the pine nuts it wants from my hand. Many thanks to Jon Spoard for this pleasing picture.
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A Goldcrest posed grandly in the yew at the corner of the Dell. Photographs make these tiny birds look much larger than they are.
A pair of Chaffinches ...
... and a pair of Blackcaps chased each other around in a tree at Peter Pan.
It was too windy today for a Little Owl to come out, but Ng Soon Lee got this fine picture of the female at the Serpentine Gallery shortly after 6 am yesterday.
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The choppy waves tossed a Mute Swan, Mallards, Coots and a Great Crested Grebe.
Pigeon Eater and his mate were bouncing around by the Dell restaurant. There was a partly eaten dead pigeon on the opposite shore, probably his work.
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A headwind encourages water birds to do some flying because it lessens the effort of taking off. A Canada Goose flapped heavily up the Serpentine.
A Moorhen contemplated the Mute Swans nesting at the Serpentine outflow.
Moorhen nests are always well hidden, but I saw a bird bringing a bit of reed to a bush at the Vista ...
... and you could get an indistinct view of the nest.
Two of the Coot chicks in the Italian Garden were climbing around on the dead iris leaves in a planter.
A pair of Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine have brought out nine new goslings, which they were sensibly keeping next to a metal barrier to deter swooping gulls.
There was an Egyptian Goose alone at the Vista. Evidently his mate is nesting.
The eldest gosling at the Lido was browsing on the grassy bank.
A Common Carder bee visited a patch of Rock Cranesbill in the Rose Garden.
Cowslips come up every spring at the southwest corner of the bridge. They were planted many years ago, along with some primroses, by a gardener who loved our native wildflowers, and are now spreading along the path.
Hi Ralph, very pleasing to see so many Egyptian goslings........lovely OWL pic as well,regards,stephen..
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid most will be snacks for Herring Gulls. But some always get through.
DeleteI guess it's a numbers game....regards,Stephen....
ReplyDeleteI've always marvelled at how they are able to preen with those enormous feet, especially chicks.
ReplyDeleteHow many pine nuts will that Robin get away with eating before someone else comes down to interrupt the (literal) all-you-can eat?
Tinúviel
Even more baffling is how Shovellers manage to preen. It's like trying to comb your hair with a cricket bat.
DeleteI've known the Robin in the Flower Walk top take six pine nuts in one visit. The tits usually dislodge him if he stays too long, and Blue Tits can do it as well as Great.
Someone tried to pitch to me, the idea of combing your hair with a cricket bat! I was stumped! It hit me for six! Didn’t like it, I was OUT!..
DeleteSome VERY witty comments today ! HOWZAT !!.. Stephen..
ReplyDeleteYou probably weren't in the park at 18:00 when I was the Peregrine on Cromwell Road...
ReplyDeleteTheodore
No. And I haven't seen them in the park for some time. Could they have at last found a place to nest?
DeleteFor what it's worth, I tried late Sat and Sun and didn't see anything at HPB either.
ReplyDelete