A pair of Long-Tailed Tits were bustling around in a hawthorn tree in the small clump down the hill from the Queen's Temple. There must be a nest in the brambles underneath.
Work continues on the nest in the Rose Garden, and a bird was bringing a feather.
One of the Robins was waiting in the Wedge-Leaf Wattle ...
... and so was the tatty Blue Tit which was the first one to come to feed in the Rose Garden several months ago. Now it has brought in its friends and relations. It was very impatient and kept landing on the camera, which made it hard to photograph.
The Chaffinch didn't see me till I had left the Rose Garden, but caught up in the Magnolia stellata outside the gate.
The Coal Tits were in the corkscrew hazel in the Dell.
There was a rather obstructed view of one of the Song Thrushes by the Henry Moore sculpture hauling up a worm in the bushes. I've been seeing Song Thrushes in this place for years and there must be a dynasty of them here. It's a good place for them with plenty of scrub reaching down to the Long Water.
The female Little Owl at the Round Pond came out on the horse chestnut in the afternoon.
Pigeon Eater and his mate were away from their usual place at the Dell restaurant, and a pair of Herring Gulls were able to doze peacefully side by side on the roof.
The Grey Heron in the new nest on the island was standing up, so yesterday's sight of it sitting down was no indication that it was nesting. This is a relief, as the nest is too small to be useful, and if it was extended on this narrow branch it would quite likely fall off.
There were herons all round the lake: on the loggia of the Italian Garden ...
... on an umbrella at the Lido restaurant ...
... and on top of a tree at the Triangle.
One of the Coots nesting in the Italian Garden fountains turned over the eggs to keep them evenly warmed.
Another on the Serpentine was washing and shaking down its feathers.
The mother of the eight Egyptian goslings on the Round Pond saw a dog coming and called them, and they obediently trotted over the the safety of the water.
The single gosling on the Serpentine has survived another day.
One of the dark Mallards was in the grass beside the leaf yard, a long way from the water. It may be the one that has a mate, and she may be nesting in the bushes.
Herons prosper in the park but Cormorants only seem to stay half the year and breed elsewhere.. is this because they demolish the fishes early and therefore no food source for their young or not enough nesting space high in the trees, which is already occupied by the herons. Have you ever seen them try to make a family in the park? Never seen a baby Cormorant before!
ReplyDeleteSean
As I've mentioned on the blog, the number of Cormorants in the park depends entirely on the availability of fish of an interesting size, Cormorants used to nest only on the coast, and have only recently spread to lonely rocky places inland. The park wouldn't be at all to their taste.
DeleteAren't Long-Tailed Tits the closest thing to an anime bird? They look like chibi birds.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why the tatty Blue Tit is so tatty. It's quite clear that mercifully his survival is not at stake, so I imagine his feathers are performing well despite the rather unpromising appearance.
Tinúviel
There are white-headed and very pale Long-Tailed Tits in Hokkaido, called Shima enaga, and these have actually been represented in anime.
DeleteThe Blue Tit looks like that because it's lost a chunk of head feathers. I don't know whether they will grow back after the next moult.
I've never seen a heron's nest before, so I was very happy to visit the park last week to see the nests and youngsters of varied ages. Your blog really helps me to make sense of what is there to be seen, Ralph, and I have no need to be frustrated by my mediocre photos as I can enjoy your much better ones here! I'm looking forward to a return visit soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. Just persevere with the pictures and they will soon improve.
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