Two pairs of Egyptian Geese fought beside the Serpentine, with the males wrestling and the females egging them on. They barged past the Sunday crowds of humans.
The dominant Black-Headed Gull who owns the landing stage at the Diana fountain patrolled the water around it, spotted an intruding gull, chased it away, and returned to the platform.
There are a lot of Grey Herons in the park at the moment, but still only two active nests. The nest with chicks was visited by a parent.
There has been no visible progress in the nest at the east end, with the heron still sitting on eggs. This is surprising, as sitting seemed to start not long after the first pair began, but the first pair's chicks hatched several weeks ago. Let's hope everything is all right. But it's typical of heron nests that you think nothing is going on, and then events surprise you.
The heron in the nest at the end of the Serpentine island is simply occupying the nest and hasn't even thought of breeding yet. I've only seen two birds in the nest once this year. But it had to have something to do so it pulled at a twig, hoping to break it off and add it to the nest.
A heron used the tall dead tree near the Serpentine Gallery as a lookout post.
The one under the Italian Garden must have heard a rustle in the reeds on the west side and peered in, hoping to find a rat.
Some Carrion Crows had found a large dead carp, rather decayed but they aren't fussy.
Magpies perched on the weathervane at the Lido restaurant, keeping an eye out for leftovers on an empty table.
The small birds were crowded together in the clump of bushes on the Rose Garden lawn, as hungry as ever. There were three Blue Tits ...
... two Coal Tits ...
... both the Chaffinch pair on he ground ...
... and a Robin on a stem in the nearby rose bed.
Starlings by the Queen's Temple foraged among fallen leaves.
A long row of Coots lined the Serpentine by the Triangle.
Numbers have been rising steadily for decades. There are now over 300 and the west end of the Serpentine is becoming a Coot lake (which raises the idea of a very silly ballet).
The two that nest on the posts at Peter Pan haven't yet begun their thankless task of nesting over and over again and losing their chicks to the gulls. They were resting on a fallen branch.
As darkness began to fall after a dim day the Little Owl came up just high enough to see out of her hole and I got a very feeble photograph, which however is better than not seeing her at all.
Interesting to see so many coots close to each other without any fighting!
ReplyDeleteThere are fights, but always in the water and not on the edge. Actually I don't think Coots do fight when their feet are on the ground.
DeleteThat Black-Headed Gull is hilarious! He has such controlling power issues.
ReplyDeleteSo does the park management, but the gull is more intelligent.
DeleteWhy are the coots all in a line like that near the edge? Looks very odd
ReplyDeleteTo rest and preen. Usually at least some there, but this was an unusual number.
DeleteCoot Lake. I'd pay good money to see that.
ReplyDeleteThe Egyptian fight video is amazing. Both hilarious and concerning - those wing strokes must be quite painful on the birds. Do females ever fight, or do they just egg the menfolk on?
Tinúviel
That pattern of fighting, with the males bashing each other and the females jumping around and shouting, seems to be usual. But I can't say that females always restrict themselves to support. Coots have the same pattern of fighting but often females attack each other or join in the general mêlée so that four are fighting at once.
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