A female Blackcap was ticking furiously at a Magpie at the northwest corner of the bridge.
One of her fledglings was on a branch eating a Seven-Spot Ladybird, a foul-tasting creature shunned by adult birds.
It looked around around thoughtfully: 'I'm not going to eat any more of those nasty red things.'
A Wood Pigeon browsed on pansies in a border in the Rose Garden. People eat pansies too in salads. They taste of mint.
One of the two young Grey Wagtails in the Dell stood on a rock below the small waterfall in the Dell, waiting for its parents to bring it insects.
A Reed Warbler under the Italian Garden had caught a fly. It took it in to the nest in the reeds.
The Wren on the yew hedge in the Flower Walk is used to people and not much worried by being photographed.
At Mount Gate one of the Coal Tits ...
... and one of the Robins came out on the railings to collect pine nuts for their fledglings.
On the opposite side of the road a family of Long-Tailed Tits was going through the Indian horse chestnut trees.
The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in the sweet chestnut tree. He is tiny, even by the standards of male Little Owls, with enormous eyebrows.
A suprise beside the Serpentine: an Australian Galah, a species of cockatoo, Eolophus roseicapilla. They make popular pets, being intelligent, friendly and gregarious. Its owner had taken it out for a bicycle ride, and trusted it not to fly away. After it had had a little walk he picked it up, put it on his shoulder and rode off.
'Galah' is Australian slang for a silly person, a slur on a bright bird.
I'm glad to say that I was wrong about the Mandarin on the Round Pond having lost all her ducklings. She still has five of the original twelve.
What I had seen yesterday alone was a different female Mandarin, still on the pond today.
There was also a third female at the Vista, one of a pair.
The Mallard on the pond has so far managed to keep all six.
The Black Swan was touting for food. He was completely wild when he arrived last year, but quickly learned the ways of the park.
As I was going past Holy Trinity Church on my way home I spotted a Nettle Leaf Weevil, Polydrusus formosus.
Well, as weevils go, that's quite pretty, so the name checks out.
ReplyDeleteI imagine that young birds will need to learn what's edible and what isn't. Clearly the young Blackcap learned the hard way that Seven-Spot ladybirds are a no-no.
Very glad to see the Mandarin ducklings are still with us.
Tinúviel
It is a pretty little insect. I had always thought that weevils were as ugly as the assocations of their name with decay, crop pests and the like, and when I saw it I thought it was a beetle until Google Lens (which is suprisingly good at insects, identified it from the picture on screen.
DeleteYes, if you're a bird you have to learn which insects are good to eat the hard way, since Mama can't teach you. The result in insect evolution is a host of red insects which may be perfectly tasty but profit from mimicking nasty ladybirds.
Now that’s what you call a set of hooters! (of the Little Owl). Would you put the Cockatoo down as a species count in the park? Even though it’s not wild.. Every time I see Black Swan I just feel empathy.
ReplyDeleteSean
You never count birds that arrive on bicycles.
ReplyDeleteNoted
DeleteI live about an hour or so away from Kensington Gardens and I rarely get the opportunity to go, but I recently got to visit and all I could think about was your blog, and all the wonderful things that were around even when I couldn't see them. Thank you for sharing your pictures and finds!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. I hope you got to see some interesting things.
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