The ice is melting but there is still enough in the swimming enclosure at the Lido to make things interesting for the hardy bathers of the Serpentine Swimming Club, who keep up their morning visits in all conditions.
The Pochards, displaced from their usual spot on the Long Water which is still icy, have collected at the edge of a reed bed near the Lido.
The dominant Black-Headed Gull at the landing stage admired his reflection in the melting ice.
A Common Gull on the ice on the Long Water pushed a chunk of bread around, pecking bits off it until it was just small enough to swallow.
The pair of Great Crested Grebes that have come under the bridge to an ice-free patch on the Long Water saw a Coot standing on a branch that they fancied as a possible nest site.
One of them attacked it from under water ...
... and drove it off.
They had a little celebration.
Grey Herons got too close on the nests in the treetops on the island, and there was a brief squabble. Herons always have quite a large personal space, and are more aggressive when claiming nests.
A heron stood guard over the nest where chicks have hatched. I haven't heard anything from the chicks recently, but it seems that if a bird is guarding the nest they must still be all right.
Another heron looked oddly out of place in a blue plastic landscape at the electric boat charging platform.
The single Cormorant in Kensington Gardens was fishing in one of the Italian Garden pools. It didn't seem to be catching anything. The Cormorant season on the lake is definitely over and all the others are back on the river.
The Robin at Peter Pan came out to claim his daily pine nuts.
So did the male Chaffinch in the Rose Garden ...
... accompanied by a Coal Tit ...
... and three Blue Tits. All these, having lost their home in the shrubbery, are now mostly inside the circular yew hedge at the east end of the garden.
A Wood Pigeon wandered through a herbaceous border, which is a salad bar for it. It had eaten so many leaves off this small plant that there was no way of identifying it.
The female Little Owl at the Round Pond, out of sight for most of the day, put her head above the parapet as the sun was setting.
They evicted a Coot. That's a major feat. I'd have a little celebratory dance as well if I were in their place!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that Gull is thinking the reflection is a rival and planning how to best gouge its eyes out or something.
Tinúviel
I've seen a pair of grebes get rid of a Coot before. They can win as long as they're in the water.
DeleteWater birds must be used to seeing their reflections. The same with pigeons on window sills seeing themselves reflected in the glass.