A Hobby was hunting over Kensington Gardens. There was a distant view of it in the top of a tall poplar near the Queen's Temple before it sped off again.
The adult female Peregrine was on the barracks tower by herself.
The female Little Owl at the Round Pond was dozing in a horse chestnut, well hidden in the leaves. She opened one eye and looked at me with mild annoyance.
There were two young Robins in the Rose Garden, one in a flower bed ...
... and the other in the shrubbery ...
... where there was also a male Chaffinch.
A dead tree to the north of Peter Pan is a good place for seeing small songbirds, and today there was a female Blackcap flitting around.
Ahmet Amerikali found another Blackcap eating berries in an elder tree at the southwest corner of the bridge.
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A Wren in the Flower Walk caught an earwig.
Both the young Grey Herons were in the nest. One flew down and started walking around on the wire baskets ...
... but the other, although it flapped frantically, still doesn't dare to come out.
In the Great Crested Grebes' nest below, one of the three chicks emerged from its mother's back and flapped its little wings energetically while she gave it a feather. You can see one of the other chicks behind it.
An older teenager, now independent and fishing for itself, took time off to have a wash.
The pale Greylag Goose that was on the Round Pond has now flown down to the Serpentine.
There have been Brown Hawker dragonflies dashing around in the park for two weeks, and during this time I have never seen one land even for a moment. But Ahmet found one that stayed on a bramble long enough to be photographed.
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A Red Admiral butterfly feeding on a hemp agrimony flower in the Flower Walk was slightly disturbed by a passing Honeybee.
The globe thistles in the Rose Garden are particularly popular with Buff-Tailed Bumblebees.
There was an odd fungus on a dead tree in the Rose Garden shrubbery exuding drops of brown liquid all over its surface. It turns out to be an Oak Bracket, Inonotus dryadeus.
Great to see the Hobby-one of my favourite birds. Haven't seen many this year but did see one briefly at the London Wetland Centre a couple of days back.
ReplyDeleteHave seen a good number of Brown Hawkers in the last couple of weeks. It was interesting to see them on the wing with Norfolk Hawkers at LWC- the first time I've seen both species on the wing together, as Norfolk Hawkers have often gone over before Brown Hawkers emerge.
So far the Hobby is always fairly near the Round Pond, a good place for hunting dragonflies and Swifts (although I haven't seen any Swifts here in the past few days).
ReplyDeleteI don't think we ever get Norfolk Hawkers in the park, though Brown are quite common if diabolically hard to photograph.
I thought my Swifts had gone but had at least 10 screaming over the garden yesterday.
DeleteIt's coming to the end of the season for Norfolk Hawkers but wouldn't be surprised if they do turn up there in the coming years as they've expanded hugely. I can remember when I had to visit the Norfolk Broads to see them.
Also look out for Lesser Emperor as there seem to be some big numbers around now & I found one yesterday down the road from where I live. As far as I know the first in Ealing.
As far as I know, neither Norfolk Hawkers nor Lesser Emperors have made it into the park yet. Probably only a matter of time. Incidentally, we have had some Common Darters in the past fortnight but I haven't managed to grab a picture of one.
DeleteGood to see the hobby. I remain envious of the little owls! I'm always impressed by how much of interest you find to put in this blog
ReplyDeleteThank you. It's quite hard work and sometimes I wonder whether I'm just boring readers with the repetition of ordinary events.
DeleteNo, I really enjoy it. I’m not always very good at appreciating the little things unless they are pointed out to me
DeleteThank you. It is quite difficult finding anything exciting in the summer lull.
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