One of the young Peregrines was on the barracks tower, the first time I've seen a juvenile in the park. There was no sign of the other one or its parents.
This single-note song, different from the trill of a male Chaffinch's usual song, is known as the 'rain song'. In fact it isn't associated with rain and it was a fine day. Apparently the Chaffinch just sings it for a change.
It can be difficult telling a juvenile Blackcap from an adult female. Young Blackcaps of both sexes have the same brown colouring as the female. I think this one in the dead hawthorn near the Henry Moore is an adult ...
... and this one, photographed by Ahmet Amerikali near the Italian Garden, is a young one. It has a slightly plump, fluffy look.
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Ahmet also photographed this Goldcrest in the Flower Walk. Athough the dark patch around its eye is indistinct, this is an adult as it has a yellow stripe on its head and a dark bill.
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It was quite warm and a Carrion Crow on Buck Hill was panting to cool down.
The female Little Owl at the Round Pond was preening in the lime tree ...
... and the male was at the top of the horse chestnut facing her.
I couldn't find the young one today.
One of the young Grey Herons had taken a first tentative step out of the nest and was on a branch in front of it. They are now full adult size.
A young Lesser Black-Backed Gull was whining at Pigeon Eater.
He took no notice of it. I don't think it was his, as there has been no previous sign of the pair breeding this year.
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The dangerously poised Great Crested Grebe nest on the chain at the island is still intact.
The persistence of the Coots nesting by the bridge has finally been rewarded with chicks. I could see three but there may be more out of sight.
The two Mute cygnets on the Serpentine are growing well.
After being alerted by Duncan Campbell to the Red-Eyed Damselflies in the Italian Garden, I went looking for them and found both these and some Small Red-Eyed Damselflies in the northeast pond, shown here. Most of them were mating, an encouraging sign after a very poor start.
There was also a Common Wasp on the algae. I don't know what it was doing there.
The fragrant silver lime tree on Buck Hill had attracted a good number of Honeybees ...
... and there were also a lot on the hydrangeas in the Rose Garden.
Hi Ralph, what great news about a juvenile PEG in the park, and what a good photo !!......as usual, I find your insect pics and the corresponding information very interesting......one of our barn owl chicks is VERY poorly, and will be lucky to survive..your little owls all seem to be doing fine...regards,Stephen..
ReplyDeleteI hope we get the whole Peregrine family in the park before the inevitable happens and the young ones are driven out.
DeleteSorry to hear about the Barn Owl chick. Nature weeds out the weak and that is good, but sad to watch.
Maybe some of the algae were fermenting?
ReplyDeletePigeon Eater sure looks imposing. I don't know how the unrelated youngster had the audacity of even looking in his general direction.
So that's the rain song. Ours will sing it when they will, but considering how scant rain is now, it stands to reason they will wish to add variety to their repertoire without looking at the weather forecast.
Tinúviel
I may have happened on an explanation for the wasp drinking water. Some wasps that build mud nests have been seen drinking a lot of water, which they then regurgitate to give over-dry mud the necessary texture. Some of the wasps in the park nest in holes in the ground, others build nests of paper mâché. Either might need water as part of the building process.
DeleteYoung gulls, irrespective of species, tend to be extremely bumptious towards their seniors. I think that first-year juveniles like this one will beg randomly at any adult. Also, Pigeon Eater creates a lot of leftovers and he may be seen as a benefactor.
I wonder who'd consider taking up a scholarly career studying wasps!
DeleteTinúviel
Professor Seirian Sumner at University College London Biosciences leads a whole team studying wasps.
DeleteRalph your damselflies are Small Red-eyed rather than Red-eyed. Notice the blue colour on the abdomen leaches onto adjacent segments at either end of the abdomen unlike the more clean-cut pattern on Red-eyed. Also in mature individuals such as here the eye colour is a lighter tomato red rather than the deeper burgundy on Red-eyed.
ReplyDeleteThanks. This is good, as it means we've got both species. I have some unpublished pictures that are definitely of the larger variety.
DeleteYes I wouldn't be surprised that you have both. Red-eyed are the first to emerge. Small Red-eyed is often more numerous once it appears.
DeleteWe've always had both, I think, and appearing in that order. But I was unpardonably remiss in examining the antehumeral stripe.
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