It was a dismal grey day and, as you would expect, the Little Owls at the Round Pond were staying indoors. But Malachi the gardener has found a pair in the garden of the Ranger's Cottage, and here is a picture of one of them he took on this phone.
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These are descendants of the first Little Owls to arrive in the park, which were first spotted in the same area in December 2011. It wasn't till the following April that three more pairs flew into Kensington Gardens.
The Fieldfare was still on the Parade Ground ...
... but the Redwings were staying in the trees.
The pair of Robins in the Rose Garden were being reasonably civil to each other ...
... and one of the Coal Tits was waiting on a budding twig.
The yellow spring flowers show off Great Tits to their best advantage: Buttercup Winter Hazel (Corylopsis pauciflora) ...
... Forsythia ...
... and just plain daffodils.
One of the splendid band of volunteers from London Wildlife Protection, who work independently of (and often despite) the authorities, was removing a tangle of fishing line from the foot of a Feral Pigeon beside the Serpentine.
Pigeon Eater and his mate watched the proceedings with interest. But the pigeons in this area know him well and he now has to go farther afield to grab inexperienced young pigeons which haven't learnt how dangerous he is.
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The young Grey Heron in the Dell was puzzled, as the little waterfall had stopped flowing. This was because Hydro Cleansing were cleaning out the water filter at the top of the dam and had temporarily stopped water going through with a line of sandbags across the intake.
A pair of Coots started a fight by the boathouses, their mates joined in, and fury spread through the whole group. They are most aggressive at this time of year.
The Coot nesting on the post at Peter Pan resented the presence of a Cormorant, but there was nothing it could do. If they will nest in this silly place they have to expect such things.
The nest on the other side of the waterfront is much better sited, and chicks from here have often grown up.
Sad to say, the Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine are now down to their last gosling.
The Black Swan preened his splendid feathers and cruised off ...
... to meet his white friend.
A rat strolled through the undergrowth by the Buck Hill shelter.
Not all readers may approve of rats, but it is well to heed the wise words of Eliza Cook (1818-89):
There's a mission, no doubt, for the mole in the dust,
As there is for the charger, with nostrils of pride;
The sloth and the newt have their places of trust,
And the agents are needed, for God has supplied.
You can make up your own mind about what she meant by the last line.
Pleasing to see there is some good left in the world, with the Pigeon helper. Pigeon Eaters face looks annoyed by it though.
ReplyDeleteSo do Coots not sense danger then… for their offspring. As they must have some sort of protection from predators for their nests and that is mostly by situating them out of sight, or are these pair just what you like to call.. “unique”. As I remember Coots making a nest in the same silly position last year and nothing came out of it.
Sean
Those Coots nesting on the post have been at it for years. They seem incapable of learning from experience. Despite the growing number of Coots, there are still many places under bushes they could use instead, but they don't.
DeleteI take it as an allusion to "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good".
ReplyDeleteImagine if Coots should also be clever besides being, well, Coots. We'd be overrun within the week.
Tinúviel
Are newts agents of God's will? Can she really have meant that?
DeleteLooking at our rulers, I honestly think I'd rather be governed by Coots. Or Newts.
Come to think of it, if you were a Scottish Jacobite greatly resenting the ousting of the Stuart King James II and his replacement by the Dutch William III, you would certainly consider a mole an agent of God's will. In 1702 William was riding his horse Sorrel, who put his foot into a mole's burrow and stumbled. William fell off, broke his collarbone, and somehow managed to die from ensuing complications (probably brought about by his doctors). Jacobites would drink toasts to 'the little gentleman in black velvet'.
DeleteMy first thought was it is estate agents that are needed but that can't be right
ReplyDeleteI think your conclusions are correct. Though perhaps the more aggressive and less competent Coots are reincarnated as estate agents.
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