Four Little Grebes have arrived on the Round Pond.
There are plenty of fish here but no cover at all, so they don't usually stay for long.
A Tufted Duck turned over to preen. They don't go completely upside down, as they have to have one foot in the water to keep their balance.
The Black Swan had also come back to the pond and was crusing around majestically.
A Common Gull perched on one of the buoys used by the model yacht club for their races.
The Little Owl had returned to the leaf-shrouded branch she has favoured lately. I called to make her turn round. I don't like bothering her, but you have to have a picture.
A party of Long-Tailed Tits passed through some small hawthorn trees below. They have quite forward-set eyes which gives them an almost owlish stare.
Several Blue Tits tagged along with them. They all flew into the Little Owl's tree and stayed there for several minutes, but they didn't seem to be mobbing her as tits sometimes do. Maybe they hadn't seen her in her secluded position.
The widowed male Peregrine was on the tower, slightly ruffled by the wind.
Pigeon Eater gave the camera a severe stare.
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Starlings chattered on the Lido restaurant terrace as they waited for a table to be free.
The three young Grey Herons returned to the nest, and later there was a loud clattering as a parent arrived to feed them.
At the other end of the island there was a full house of Cormorants on the posts.
One of the two newly arrived young Great Crested Grebes was fishing by the boat hire platform. I haven't seen any sign of their parents, but presumably they were guided to the park by adults who knew their way around London.
The survivor from the nest on the island is also able to fish by itself, but doesn't pass up an opportunity to pester its parents.
Today's Robin is the one in the corkscrew hazel in the Flower Walk.
It was considerably colder today than recently, but the hardy Common Carder bees were still at work in the catmint in the Rose Garden.
I also saw two late dragonflies, both Migrant Hawkers.
I like to think the Starlings are shooting the breeze to pass the time while waiting for a raiding opportunity. "How are you doing, Ben?" "Not bad, Al, how's the missus?".
ReplyDeleteHow do you call the Little Owl? Do you try to imitate an owl call, or just call her "pretty"? (there's a myth among Spanish birders that almost every female bird will look at you if you call her "guapa").
Tinúviel
Yes, I'm sure that very varied chattering and clicking and whistling is social chit-chat, not communicating much except 'Here we are all together', but if you listen to people in the street you realise that most of them aren't saying much more.
DeleteI always talk to the Little Owl and compliment her and thank her, and probably she understands the tone of voice. But that won't make her look round, because she's so used to me. To attract her attention I make a sharp 'tzik tzik' call, take the pictures as fast as possible before she turns away, and apologise for bothering her.
Incidentally, many Great Tits won't come to your hand until you call to them. It doesn't matter what you say, of course. They understand this as a signal that you are ready for them and will keep your hand still while they land.