Unlike the evicted Blackbird in yesterday's video, this one has all the leaf litter in the woodland at the bottom of Buck Hill to dig in. There are still a lot of wild areas in Kensington Gardens undisturbed by the management's quest for tidiness, and it's in these that the park's small population of Blackbirds and other thrushes is hanging on. But the number of Blackbirds has fallen by over 90 per cent in the last 50 years, largely owing to the use of leaf blowers to remove leaves from the shrubberies.
A Robin posed grandly in a yew tree above her, waiting for me to stop photographing, after which it collected five pine nuts from my hand.
In the Rose Garden, the Robin that is a refugee from the smashed shrubbery hasn't become that confident yet ...
... and probably the female Chaffinch never will. It's hard to feed them on the ground, because Feral Pigeons quickly notice what's going on and crowd in.
However, all the Blue Tits are now coming to my hand. They never did while the shrubbery was intact, but hunger has made them bolder.
A Robin near the Speke obelisk has also started hand feeding.
I was besieged by Great Tits when going through this area, which the Robin was furiously trying to chase away without much effect.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker appeared for a moment at the top of an old chestnut tree before flying away.
A first visit to the Round Pond didn't reveal the Little Owl, but towards sunset she came to the back of the hole and looked out, waiting for the people to go away so she could hunt.
A Wood Pigeon lurched and flapped in the ivy hedge at the back of the Lido trying to reach uneaten berries.
The Grey Heron in the nest with chicks was brought a twig by its mate.
It carefully arranged the present on the edge of the nest. The chicks are still too small to be seen looking out of the nest, though they could be heard in yesterday's video.
The usual heron was fishing in the reed bed under the Italian Garden, one of the few places where the greedy Cormorants couldn't penetrate to clean out the fish.
But the patient bird has quite a wait for a fish to appear in a gap. Zooming out from the scene shows that it has trampled down a wide area of reeds in its hunt.
This is one of the two rival Common Gulls that compete to perch on the sign near the Dell restaurant. Just as I was taking the picture the other gull swept in to knock it off. They are evenly matched and neither of them manages to stay in place for long.
A pair of Egyptian Geese noisily claimed territory in the top of a tree on Buck Hill. The tree they display in is never the same one as the female nests in, as that would expose her to predators waiting to seize eggs or goslings during her brief absences to feed and drink.
There is a tree with a suitably large hole nearby, and I will keep an eye on it.
The teenage Mute Swan that is the sole survivor of the cygnets hatched on the island has had a tough life and has become very aggressive. Here it's threatening some adults near the Triangle.
I used to try like crazy to get female chaffinches to come down in the early days of feeding, but never did better than a snatch from the fingertips and an incredibly swift exit: at least there were a couple of males who were willing to land and select a piece of food. :)
ReplyDeletePS quick report from SJP: very pleased to say that we now have around 40 little birds coming to feed there
If we can get them through the Winter, should have a record number of 'new arrivals' in the Spring. :)
I had one male Chaffinch, with very bad feet, who would do that in Kensington Gardens. But only ever one.
DeleteGlad to hear that the small birds in St James's Park are doing well. The management seems to be reasonable there, not like the sad shower of nincompoops we suffer from.
He's not even full grown to full strength yet, is he? We're going to have another bully on our hands pretty soon.
ReplyDeleteAre five pine nuts the going rate for Robins to allow themselves to be photographed? Demanding little things.
The photobombing gull getting read to knock the other out is amazing.
Tinúviel
The teenage swam is 'he', of course. He's a big male with a big attitude, and a worthy son of his father, the only swan who can stand up to the top bully. It's a violent community and force wins.
DeleteRobins collect as many pine nuts as they can hold in their crop. The maximum seems to be seven. Then, I suppose, they just swallow them, unlike tits which take one at a time and carefully peck little bits out and enjoy them.
If anyone had the patience, a camera on a tripod pointed at the Common Gulls' post and left running would produce a film that could be excerpted into a splendid knockabout comedy. I don't have the time, sad to say.