Water Rail at the island

The most interesting picture of today is of a Water Rail at the Serpentine island, taken by Bill Haines who was out doing the monthly bird count for the BTO.

A Water Rail has been glimpsed here in recent years, always on or near the island. On 24 March 2018 it came on to the boat hire platform early one morning, and Mateusz the foreman of the much missed Bluebird Boats got a picture of it. It may have been the same one all the time, as they are very furtive birds and only come into view occasionally.

There was also some short-lived excitement when Bill saw a large dark-eyed gull very distantly through his spotting scope.

Caspian Gulls, which are still rare here, have dark eyes. But looking more closely at the picture shows that its bill is too thick for a Caspian, as these have long thin bills. It must have been a Herring Gull. Gulls that have had bird flu and recovered are sometimes left with dark eyes, and we also have a Lesser Black-Back in the same state. (Note: that does not mean we have a new outbreak of bird flu here. These are birds that have had it in the past and recovered.)

A Great Spotted Woodpecker climbed a tree on the Parade Ground until it was frightened off by a Magpie. It's female, as you can tell from the absence of a red patch on the back of its head.

A male Blackbird foraged on the grassy bank at the back of the Lido swimming area. You can hear the local Song Thrush singing, but the Blackbird will wait till spring has properly arrived before he starts.

This is the Song Thrush you could hear singing in the previous video. We've had video of him singing before, but there's always time to listen to their carefree song.

There was another Song Thrush in the mostly unvisited area northwest of the Speke obelisk.

I had gone here to find some Redwings, and one was showing well on a tree.

A Robin dug busily in the leaf litter at the foot of Buck Hill and came up with a small earthy thing that was probably a larva.

A Robin in the Rose Garden preferred to wait for some pine nuts, and collected five.

Several Blue Tits appeared in the same tree.

A Coal Tit intercepted me as I was leaving. It perched in a bush with purple buds. I've seen and wondered at the small purple flowers when they come out, but haven't identified the bush. When they are out I will turn PlantNet on it and see what it says. 

This pair of Great Tits are always waiting on the path just south of the Henry Moore sculpture.

The three Grey Heron chicks in the nest at the east end of the island were shifting around restlessly, waiting for a parent to come and feed them.

At the upper nest a parent was standing in a tree well clear of the chicks to avoid being mobbed by its boisterous brood.

The heron in the west nest was alone again, so no progress there.

A Great Crested Grebe caught a perch by the boat platform ...

... and a pair rested together on the south side of the lake.

A pair of Coots are building a nest in the bushes below the Italian Garden. There's one here every year, but it isn't a good place as the north end of the Long Water is full of pike and the chicks soon get eaten.