Both the Little Owls at the Round Pond were together in a horse chestnut tree, preening and making comforting little scratchy noises at each other. This is the first time I've seen the male since the pair were driven out of their nest hole when the tree burned down. It's a great relief to know that they're both all right.
A pair of Mistle Thrushes scolded a Carrion Crow on the hill leading up to the pond. They must be nesting here.
A crow was sunbathing near the bridge ...
... and so was a Magpie on Buck Hill.
A male Blackcap sang in a winged elm by the path at the foot of the hill, one of several singing around the Long Water.
A Wren bounced around in a nearby hawthorn ...
... and a Long-Tailed Tit worked over a holly tree.
A Blue Tit was pecking buds in the Japanese crabapple in the Rose Garden.
One of the young Grey Herons from the first nest was in a rowing boat at the east end of the island. They're beginning to look quite smart.
A better view of the Coot chicks in the nest at Peter Pan shows that there are six of them.
Eight new Egyptian goslings have come out on the Serpentine shore by the Triangle shrubbery. Their parents are looking after them carefully, but Herring Gulls and Carrion Crows make the lake a dangerous place.
The single gosling on the other side rested in the sunshine. It never strays far from its parents, which is why it has survived when the more adventurous ones were eaten.
The eight at the Round Pond were basking on the warm tarmac while their mother kept an eye on them, ready to shoo them into the water if a dog came in sight.
The Mandarin pair wandered around on the lawn by the Henry Moore statue.
In the Rose Garden a dark Honeybee collected pollen from a grape hyacinth ...
... a female Hairy-Footed Flower Bee browsed on the cercis bush ...
... and a Dark-Edged Bee Fly perched on its absurdly long legs in a flower bed, its non-folding wings stuck out at right angles.
A Speckled Wood butterfly rested on an ivy leaf in the place in the Flower Walk where there are Speckled Woods every year.
I didn't know till now how gorgeous are the colours of a Dark-Edged Bee Fly. Amazing picture.
ReplyDeleteVery, very relieved that both Little Owls are well and keep together. It's just a matter of time that they should find a new tree to nest in.
Tinúviel
Yes, Dark-Edged Bee Flies are a pleasing colour, but their form is grotesque and I can't look at one without a feeling of horror at what they do to bees.
DeleteIf all goes well with the owls they will drop out of sight for a while till someone finds where they have gone among thousands of trees.