A Dunnock beside the Long Water looked for larvae in dead leaves. At 6 seconds into the video it got a wireworm, which is the long thin larva of a click beetle.
A pair of Rose-Ringed Parakeets preened each other by a hole in the Little Owls' tree.
The owl herself was keeping down inside on a cold morning, so I didn't see her.
Somebody gave this Carrion Crow on the parade ground a nut, and it was having a very hard time opening it.
A closer look shows that it's a pecan, so no wonder. You really need the chisel-sharp teeth of a squirrel to deal with this. I've even seen a squirrel crack the shell of a brazil nut with a single gnash.
One of the Coal Tits in the Rose Garden waited on a tree, staying still for just long enough for a photograph.
A Blue Tit ...
... and a Robin were below in a patch of teasels.
One of the Robins at Mount Gate was looking expectant in a flower bed.
A Herring Gull hitched a ride on a pedalo.
Pigeon Eater's mate was on the water by the Dell restaurant ...
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... waiting for him to catch another victim. He sidled up to a Feral Pigeon pretending not to look at it, but the pigeon didn't fall for that old trick.
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The mate of the Grey Heron on the west nest turned up, and they were together on the wire baskets below.
The three heron chicks in the upper nest were quiet for once, and one of them was dozing.
When I came along the other side of the lake almost an hour later they were still in the same positions. Of course if a parent had turned up they would have been bouncing up and down, but they are only given a few enormous meals a day.
A pair of Great Crested Grebes were dancing by the bridge.
A Moorhen wandered around on the collapsed willow by the bridge. They nest in this tree every year, apparently in a hole in the tree which can't be seen from any reachable angle as I've never been able to discover it.
A pair of Coots were making a nest in one of the Italian Garden planters, more from habit than with a serious intention of breeding.
Ever since the head-butting picture I'm keeping an eye on all Moorhens, whether in the flesh or in images, to see if there is a repeat performance.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if crow sometimes regret losing their teeth in their dinosaur past. They got the ability to fly in exchange, true, but I wonder if bats didn't get a better bargain.
Tinúviel
Who would have thought that these mild-seeming birds had such depths of weirdness?
DeleteNo, I wouldn't want to be a bat. Too specialised. Crows are capable all-rounders.
I like how the female Parakeet expects the male to do all the work. As usual!
ReplyDeleteSean