A male Blackbird in the Dell called to his mate, who was over on the other side of the enclosure. He continued for a minute after I stopped filming, and as I left I saw her flying over.
One of the Coal Tits arrived to take a pine nut.
Wrens were singing everywhere. This one was in the Flower Walk ...
... and another was on a tree by the Buck Hill shelter ...
... with a Chiffchaff right at the top.
A male Greenfinch sings constatntly in a hawthorn tree north of Peter Pan. He's usually hard to see in the twigs, but Ahmet Amerikali got a good shot of him.
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Ahmet also photographed a Firecrest in Battersea Park ...
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... along with a Goldcrest.
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He saw two Firecrests fighting, locked together in midair and letting go only as both were about to fall to the ground.
The female Little Owl was in her chestnut tree by the Serpentine Gallery. It looks as if they have a good chance of nesting this year, as the Carrion Crows seem to have lost interest in the nest in this tree and, as we have seen, they can chase off the Stock Doves.
Seeing this owl in isolation I would have taken her for a male, as she is quite small with big eyebrows. But the male is even smaller and his eyebrows are immense.
The Grey Herons in the west nest, who have been very vague about starting to breed, were more enthusiastic today and were displaying to each other.
The female Mute Swan of the island pair was ashore. The nest is behind the tree on the left.
Six new Egyptian goslings have just come out on the Serpentine. Their father, on the right, was guarding the family closely and wouldn't let another Egyptian near them.
The last gosling from the first brood is growing rapidly. Every day improves its chances of survival.
A pair of Shovellers dabbled and revolved at the waterfront by Peter Pan.
It was the turn of the female Mallard in the fountain to take a rest in the irises ...
... while the Gadwall and Mallard drakes were feeding amicably together. There seems to be no jealousy in this trio although the female visibly prefers the Gadwall.
There are a lot of Hairy-Footed Flower Bees. This female was on a Crown Imperial in the Italian Garden ...
... and there was another on the currant bush at Mount Gate.
The calls of the blackbird are so dreamlike and intangible
ReplyDeleteI wonder how Little Owls choose one another among the rest of candidates. This pair physically resemble one another: both smaller and with big bushy eyebrows. I wonder if they select for traits that make them similar.
ReplyDeleteThe Firecrest incident must have been spectacular!
Tinúviel
A|t any rate both the Round Pond Little Owls also resemble one another, and I sometimes get them confused.
DeleteHow can a bird look so intensely angry and so adorable cute at the same time!
ReplyDeleteSean
Two Firecrests were seen fighting on Hampstead Heath near Kenwood in the depths of this winter, maybe the ghosts of duellers past. Jim
ReplyDeleteThje last time I saw a Firecrest in Hyde Park it was being furiously attacked by Goldcrests. It's a tiny world of fury.
DeleteThe Dell in Hyde Park was a favourite duelling place and I have been told that 68 people had been killed there. I asked Andrea, who works in the Dell daily, if she had seen any ghosts, and she said no. But she had never seen a Goldcrest there either till I showed her one.