The Little Owl at the Round Pond was on the east horse chestnut again, and stayed there all day. This picture is from my second visit when she was looking particularly beautiful in the evening light.
She glared at a passing Magpie, which fortunately hadn't noticed her.
Neither had a Jay lower down the tree.
A flock of Long-Tailed Tits passed nearby.
You never know where the Kensington Gardens Chaffinch is going to turn up. Today he was at the southwest corner of the bridge, a favourite spot with small songbirds.
Ahmet Amerikali got a close-up shot of a Goldcrest in a tree near the Henry Moore sculpture.
%202024%201a.jpg)
The Robin at Peter Pan emerged from the bushes and called for service.
A Cormorant swayed unsteadily on a chain, but once it had got its balance it could hold on while preening and flapping.
Grey Herons are collecting in the nests on the island, and it looks as if there might be another breeding attempt soon. This is about the time of the first successful nest last winter, which was unusually early for the park -- but the herons in Battersea Park all nest at this time and produce their chicks around the New Year.
The Black-Headed Gull who owns the landing stage was patrolling the water around it. No other gull on the lake can match his early change into breeding plumage, which I think is caused by him being full of male hormones.
The number of Cormorants is now falling rapidly. There were only two among the Black-Headed Gulls on the fallen poplar at the Vista.
The Little Grebe passed by the gravel strip below.
There was an unusual blond Greylag Goose at the Round Pond.
The golden light just before sunset showed off the fine colours of a pair of Egyptian Geese.
The female Wigeon on the Round Pond doesn't associate with the other ducks. Instead, she likes to be surrounded by a protective flock of Egyptian Geese.
Ahmet got a dramatic picture of an Egyptian about to splash down in Southwark Park.
%202024%201a.jpg)
The lower trunk evergreen oak in the Rose Garden shrubbery was covered with flies feeding on the sweet sap oozing from its bark. This has been going on for some time, and in the summer I found three kinds of butterfly on the tree.
The condition is known as 'wetwood' or 'stem bleeding', and may be caused by bacteria or by a Phytophthora mould. Quoting a Forest Research page on the subject, 'In Britain, Phytophthora citricola, P. cinnamomi and P. cambivora attack various species of oak, mainly causing bleeding on the trunk up to 1 to 2 m above ground level.' The same page says that the bacteria sometimes responsible have not yet been properly identified.
Thank you for the Wigeon information recently!
ReplyDeleteI shall search for it tomorrow hopefully
I'm not versed on Wigeons, but is her behaviour normal? I mean, logically, she'd tend to stick to others closer to her species. Or perhaps she fears larger ducks would attack her.
ReplyDeleteThe golden light truly flatters the Little Owl's lovely warm-toned plumage.
Tinúviel
It's mainly dietary, I think. Wigeons like grass more than other ducks do, and after the thin scrubby stuff she'd get in her normal wild environment the lush lawn around the pond must be a real treat. I think the Egyptians, who in most of their native African habitat wouldn't get grass nearly as good as this, may feel the same way. I wonder, though, whether the change of diet affects the health of either species.
Delete