A young Robin in the Flower Walk isn't yet in adult plumage ...
... but it has already started to sing.
A family of Wrens were bustling about in a bush on the other side of the path, but being most unhelpful about letting themselves be photographed.
The usual Chaffinch intercepted me at the bridge and caught several pine nuts in the air.
The widowed male Peregrine was on the barracks tower. We all hope he finds a new mate soon.
The male Little Owl at the Round Pond was dozing at the top of a horse chestnut tree. He sleepily opened one eye and gave me a cross stare.
Today the feeble Grey Heron chick on the island at least showed signs of restlessness, getting up, stretching and yawning.
The Great Crested Grebe family on the Serpentine were together by the small boathouses.
The parents were bringing their chicks small fish.
The three Little Grebes on the Round Pond were diving busily. One of them came up with a mysterious black and white object which might have been part of a rotting plastic bag, but soon dropped it.
Although two of them are certainly juveniles, I'm wondering whether the one on the left here could be an adult in non-breeding plumage.
A Moorhen wandered around the edge of the bowl of the marble fountain in the Italian Garden, looking for edible creatures in the algae.
There was a young one in the duckweed below.
Cormorants preened on the remains of the raft.
The Tufted Duck family were out of sight at the first visit, but came past the Vista later.
A Tufted Duck turning upside down to preen is a familiar sight, but Pochards do it too.
A Common Carder Bee flew into a penstemon flower.
Being a grebe parent is extremely hard work. If the chicks' piping makes me anxious, I can only imagine what it'd do to a grown grebe!
ReplyDeleteI'm almost certain I heard a Robin trying out a few phrases today, but hubby says it cannot be because there's never been Robins in our street that we know of. He says it might have been a Starling.
Tinúviel
Grebe parents bear their chicks' incessant demands with grace. They are genuinely loving birds.
DeleteStarlings will imitate absolutely anything very well, and sometimes I think they do it as a joke with intention to mislead. But all you need for a real Robin is a few scrubby bushes. I have one in my utterly urban street, as well as a pair of Blackbirds and several Wrens, with Goldfinches on the television aerials above.
This is a great blog, thanks for writing it. I had been looking for Hobbies all summer at Rainham Marshes and the WWT wetlands in Barnes and somehow missing them, but saw 4 in Kensington Gardens this week! Amazing sight.
ReplyDeleteVery good news about the four Hobbies. I didn't know whether they'd managed to raise young this year. They probably nested in one of the garden squares in Kensington or Bayswater and came into the park to hunt -- something they have done before.
DeleteBoth Rainham and the LWC are great spots - well worth persevering with, especially if they're close to you.
ReplyDeleteI'm not fond of the LWC. Too organised for my taste.
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