The familiar Grey Wagtail was hunting along the edge of the water at the Lido restaurant. It was hatched in the park last year and is much more confident around people than these normally very shy birds are. I'm pretty sure it's the same one I filmed on 9 February trotting around in a street nearby with a Pied Wagtail .
The female Pied Wagtail I filmed on Friday hunting in the Italian Garden ...
... was back today with her mate.
A Blackbird in the Rose Garden pulled up a worm.
Ahmet Amerikali got a good picture of a Redwing at the back of the Lido ...
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... and also of one of the Long-Tailed Tits at the northwest corner of the bridge collecting a feather for its nest.
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A Magpie was also picking up a feather in the Rose Garden. Some of its black feathers are bleached, which is quite common in Carrion Crows but not in Magpies. I think it's caused by a diet deficient in protein, the result of scavenging too much junk food, and particularly affects young birds growing their first wing feathers.
A crow beside the Serpentine had a much healthier diet choice, the leftovers from Pigeon Eater's lunch.
The pair of Robins at Mount Gate both sang to deter a third Robin (not shown here) which had come too close to their territory.
A Wren peeped out of the undergrowth by the bridge.
New leaves provided a background for a Blue Tit near the Henry Moore sculpture ...
... and a Coal Tit at Mount Gate.
Grey Herons were being fed at the Triangle, as usual causing a fight.
Two Shoveller drakes were fighting beside the gravel strip in the Long Water.
A pair of Mute Swans are now definitely claiming the nest site in the reed bed east of the Lido -- you can see the downtrodden reeds in the background here. The female 4DTI is nearer the camera. The male, 4GIA, was snarling at another pair of swans ...
...but it was the female who chased them away.
These Great Crested Grebes have a nest site in a bush behind the wire baskets at the east end of the Serpentine island, the only easy building place on the whole island for the limited skill of grebes.
Another picture from Ahmet, a Cormorant catching a roach under the parapet of the Italian Garden.
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I saw a Grebe today (it was quite far away, but the moment was clear) go inside a fissure or cavity in a rock outcrop overlooking the lake. The cavity was at water level. Do you think it's possible that it might seek to nest there?
ReplyDeleteTo think that such pretty, pretty song may serve as deterrence...
Tinúviel
Yes, I think it might be intending to nest there, if there was some kind of ledge for it inside. They instinctively choose to nest under things such as bushes or branches, so a hole in the rock might well seem attractive.
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