Although the atrocious weather has improved slightly there are still lots of hungry small birds in the Rose Garden, all the hungrier since the destruction of the shrubbery that was home for at least 50 of them. Most of them are Great Tits, but there are also Blue Tits and a pair of tiny Coal Tits, one of which appears just before the end of the video. The Robins and Chaffinches were also around but don't appear here.
The Blue Tit with odd head feathers was the first one here to come to my hand, several months ago while the shrubbery was still intact.
A Great Tit perched among the odd flowers of a paperbush in the Dell.
A Long-Tailed Tit hung upside down from a twig near the Buck Hill shelter ...
... and a Robin was waiting on a bramble for its daily pine nuts.
Another in the Flower Walk was made nervous by a rival singing nearby, and fled when it landed in the bush behind him.
On the other side of the path a Coal Tit ...
... and a Blue Tit perched in the twisted twigs of the corkscrew hazel.
A pair of Magpies keeping a lookout from the weathervane at the Lido restaurant ...
... swooped down to demand peanuts. One landed on a giant flowerpot full of cyclamens.
The two Grey Heron chicks in the east nest are fairly quiet except at feeding time, and rest out of sight in the bottom of the nest ...
... unlike the three older ones in the upper nest which were pictured in yesterday's blog, which are constantly milling about so that their parents have to stand in other places.
Pigeon Eater stared at a Moorhen. I've never seen him try to catch one, although it would be no harder than taking a pigeon. Perhaps they taste nasty.
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I wondered whether there was a female Great Crested Grebe on the lake, since males are usually seen alone at the moment. Yes, there is, and the pair were displaying by the bridge.
A pair of Egyptian Geese were kicking up a racket on the tall dead tree next to the Serpentine Gallery.
When you see a Mute Swan in one of the Italian Garden pools, it's generally there because it was chased off the Long Water by the killer swan. They have to wait till he moves under the bridge before they can return. Fortunately there are lots of algae for them to eat.
The Bulgarian Embassy is just down the road from the park. For some years there has been a little Bulgarian Orthodox church in a mews house at the back, converted from its original use as a stable. Now it's being done up in style, and today a gilt cross and a mosaic of its patron St John of Rila were being installed on the wall.
Apart from that the outside of the building remains unchanged, but inside the two floors have been joined together and an internal dome with a circular gallery made of the upper level. This is not complete enough to photograph yet, but I'll try later. I have a soft spot for St John of Rila, a 10th century hermit who used to feed birds on his hand.
I always thought that the brownish coloured church behind the Bulgarian embassy was a Anglican Church. Is St John's Church in between the two?
ReplyDeleteYes. It's in Bremner Road. But you could walk past it without noticing, even now.
DeleteHave you heard of the visigoth saint Virila de Leyre? He once was taking a walk through a forest, meditating on the meaning of eternity, and heard a nightingale sing. He was so entranced he stopped to listen. When he finally returned to his monastery, 300 years had passed. I have visited this monastery and spent time in the forest where he wandered. Sadly there were no nightingales in this godless age.
ReplyDeleteI love how daintily the Coal Tit waits for its turn perched on the bench.
I just hope, for the sake of world peace, that Pigeon Eater doesn't get any funny ideas about expanding his diet.
Tinúviel
No, I had never heard of him. What a wonderful story. But it shows the danger of meditating on eternity: you might get a dose of it.
DeleteThe Irish Saint Kevin of Glendalough is said to have been praying, with his hands held out in front of him in the Celtic manner, when a Blackbird landed on one, and the pair built a nest and laid eggs. The saint kept his arm extended until the chicks were fledged. (But the account of St John of Rila is wholly believable.)
Pigeon Eater is also partial to goslings and ducklings as a snack between pigeons.
Regarding, "Pigeon Eater stared at a Moorhen. I've never seen him try to catch one, although it would be no harder than taking a pigeon." I thought that he drowns pigeons - surely that wouldn't work with moorhens? Or am I missing something
DeleteNo, he no longer drowns them. He bites through their neck now -- more efficient.
DeleteAnd more humane - although possibly not something gulls care about. Is this on land - if no idea why he doesn't go for moorhens. Maybe he is conservative and sticks to hunting what he knows (not a bad idea).
DeleteHe runs at them on land and carries them into the water to kill them. See my video.
DeleteVery good video - I am surprised that the technique is not spreading more.
Delete