It was a brighter day than yesterday but there wasn't much happening. The Little Owl at the Round Pond came out on a branch during a sunny interval.
The Egyptian Geese by the pond had wandered away from the Wigeon's usual grazing place, so she sought the cover of a flock of Canada Geese instead. They seemed to get on well enough.
A single Long-Tailed Tit flitted around in a young oak tree.
A Jay perched expectantly in a chestnut ...
... and a Magpie waited on an urn in the Italian Garden.
A Wren near the Henry Moore sculpture obstinately stayed on the far side of a tree, something that happens all too often with these shy little creatures.
As I was vainly trying to get a clear shot, the local Robin ...
... and several Great Tits kept demanding food.
While I was throwing pine nuts for the female Chaffinch in the Rose Garden shrubbery...
... one of the Blackbirds that live here was sufficiently interested to come out ...
... and followed me when I left, perching in a fuchsia bush. They can be tempted to take raisins on the ground sometimes, but I don't think these crazily nervous birds will ever become confident.
Two Wood Pigeons barged in to grab the food, got in each other's way, and became rather annoyed. They are bad-tempered birds, more so than the common Feral Pigeons. You can see the local Dunnock crossing in the background at the end of this video.
Two pairs of Grey Herons are definitely occupying nests on the island. You can't tell for some time whether they are serious about nesting, but a pair did nest successfully at this time last winter.
A Black-Headed Gull got a bit of bread and was instantly the target of the other gulls, trying to harass it into dropping the food.
Greylag Geese, frightened off the shore by a loose dog, flew on to the water.
A young Great Crested Grebe was fishing under the Italian Garden as usual. It paused to scratch the back of its neck with a foot.
As their juvenile stripes fade they are looking more and more like adults in winter plumage and will soon be hard to tell apart. This is an adult female on the Serpentine.
I didn't know Grebes were such able contortionists. I'd pay good money to see them put on a Cirque du soleil type of thing.
ReplyDeleteAll the Canadas look like the Wigeon's bodyguards.
Tinúviel
Grebes can twist their necks so far that they can preen the lower half of the back of their neck with their beak. It's only the upper reaches that have to be done with a foot.
DeleteThe Wigeon really is using the Canadas as bodyguards, though they don't know that or participate, of course.