The Robin pair in the Rose Garden were together in a bush, with the female begging her mate to feed her. She will need him to do this when she's nesting. I gave him a pine nut, but the pair retreated into the back of the bush and I didn't get a picture of the exchange.
The male Blackbird was singing strongly, well hidden in a holly tree. He has to raise his voice as the Rose Garden is a noisy place, with competition from police sirens and helicopters, billionaires' sons roaring around in Ferraris from the showroom in Knightsbridge, and loud dreary rap from the Bluetooth speakers of the skaters in the Serpentine Road.
The Blackbird from the Dell was out on the lawn, hopping around in the grass looking for insects and worms.
The Green Woodpecker on Buck Hill called from a tree, as usual hard to see among the twigs but I finally got a picture of it preening.
While going round the tree for a clear shot I found a single Long-Tailed Tit ...
... and a Jay.
The wind had dropped, and the female Little Owl at the Round Pond was out in the horse chestnut tree.
The third brood of Grey Heron chicks on the island were frantically begging their parent to feed them.
One of the second brood was down on the shore of the island ...
... and the other two were back in the nest.
The young heron from last year was on the edge of the Dell stream, picking up a stick. The nesting instinct seems to set in early.
The pair of Mandarins cruised across the Vista ...
... and there was a single drake by the boathouses. You can see that the pattern of white stripes on his side is different.
A few minutes later I saw a pair near the island, but I'm pretty sure it was the first pair which had flown over from the Long Water.
The odd couple of the Gadwall drake and female Mallard were side by side in the Italian Garden. The spare Mallard drake was hanging around out of shot. He doesn't have much of a time, but the female has made her choice and there's nothing he can do about it.
The last Egyptian gosling on the Serpentine has made it through another day.
The male by the Henry Moore sculpture was sitting in the shade while his mate was nesting in a tree -- I haven't found where this is, as the dead tree they used in the past is now decayed and they have abandoned it.
The Coots nesting on the Mute Swans' island in the Long Water were fussing around together on the edge. They are never molested by the belligerent swans, maybe because these have learnt that an angry Coot is a nuisance even if not a threat.
A male Hairy-Footed Flower Bee was making the most of the fading wallflowers in the Rose Garden.
The Blackbird has some immense contenders, shame we cannot rig up some speakers to the trees to echo its beautiful song. The rap bros would get flawed and out judged, it would be like a weird bizarre Britains Got Talent show! much like the real thing (seriously that programme has gone downhill).
ReplyDeleteThe little Egyptian Gosling is striking a bragging pose there! I do hope it can see its days out, and do its siblings some justice. 🙏
Sean
Some large Bluetooth speakers playing bird song from xeno-canto would be interesting. But the Blackbird wouldn't be pleased.
DeleteHas anyone done it? It'd be an interesting experiment. Maybe we'd have a repeat performance of Hitchcock's The Birds.
DeleteTinúviel
I wouldn't do it myself. It's easy to madden birds with recorded calls.
DeleteI should imagine swans must have learned by now that there are easier victims to bully.
ReplyDeleteNothing screams "spring has sprung" quite like two Robins not trying to murder one another.
Tinúviel
The cantankerous Coots are almost alone in not being bullied by swans. I think grebes, which take a swift pointy revenge under water, are also exempt. But today on the Serpentine a swan was trying to peck the lone Egyptian gosling, an utterly harmless creature which had done nothing to annoy it.
DeleteYou have to admit that there are moments when furious Robins are quite sweet.
The Coots are probably a defensive asset for the swans, and vice versa. But as I recall, a few years ago Ralph you noted a swan with a grudge against Coots, probably because one had tampered with the swan's eggs? Jim
DeleteI seem to remember that the Coot had actually got on to the swan's eggs. There are limits.
Delete