After yesterday's close view of a Green Woodpecker it was a surprise to see another reasonably near. It was on the Little Owls' tree at the Round Pond, probing a patch of rotten wood. It found a small larva.
There was no sight of an owl. On a frosty morning they were deep inside the tree.
A Pied Wagtail was running about under a bench beside the pond, ignoring someone sitting there. Probably food gets dropped under the benches and attracts insects, so it's a good hunting place.
The Song Thrush in the Rose Garden shrubbery came down on the ground, the first time I've had a good sight of it.
Let's hope it goes on singing so I get the chance of a video. Tomorrow is the last day of the Winter Wasteland and then we shan't be deluged with cheesy Christmas songs making filming impossible.
The pair of Blue Tits here were chasing each other around -- it's hard to tell flirting from plain aggression. But they quietened down and came out for their pine nuts.
The Robin in the middle of the garden was waiting in a rose bush.
The Robin on the south side of the Flower Walk took just one pine nut before resuming its persecution of the other small birds.
The Coal Tit was in a mood and wouldn't come down, though later I managed to tempt it with a pine nut on the ground.
This video isn't much to look at, especially for the first 15 seconds which YouTube's buffering procedure degrades, but it's mildly interesting. A Coal Tit by the Italian Garden was frantically darting around in the top of a tall tree, calling constantly. I don't know what started it on this activity on a chilly winter day.
A Dunnock was hopping through the shrubbery at the southwest corner of the bridge. It came out to pick up a pine nut on the ground, which is probably as far as you can get in making friends with these shy birds.
A Jay waited on a tree stump by the Long Water with a background of gorse blossom.
A pair of Carrion Crows perched on an urn in the Italian Garden.
A Great Crested Grebe hurried down the Long Water to meet his mate at Peter Pan.
They greeted each other ceremoniously.
Then the male rushed off to do the 'cat display' in which he raises his wings to make himself look as large as possible.
A young Cormorant scratched on a fallen tree.
The Moorhen in the Dell was trotting around happily with its new friend.
A pair of Egyptian Geese made a loud fuss on top of a tall broken trunk by the Serpentine Gallery. They're probably the pair that have a nest hole over the raod in the Diana fountain enclosure.
A female Gadwall was feeding east of the Lido. They have quietly beautiful markings, finer than those of a female Mallard.
The mechanics of the cat display reminds me of the usual Great Bustard display (which we call "to make the wheel", hacer la rueda):
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sdLFTsiK1k
Maybe that's the sign of alarm for a predator? The Coal Tit looks very agitated.
Lovely shot of the Song Thrush. What a handsome bird.
Tinúviel
Small songbirds' usual warning call for predators is a high-pitched 'seep' given from cover. This is uttered and understood by many species. Rushing around and shouting is a typical way of leading a predator away from a nest. But they aren't nesting. So I don't know what to think here.
DeleteAlthough much of Great Crested Grebes' display is common to both sexes, the cat display is mostly, though not invariably, performed by males. Male grebes are usually slightly larger than females, and size is seen as sexy, just as with Great Bustards.
Constantly amazed that Great Bustards can fly.
I love Song Thrushes, gloriously spotty.