A Reed Warbler sang in the little reed bed under the edge of the Italian Garden. There's a pair here.
A Song Thrush was also unusually visible when it came to the front edge of the lawn by the Henry Moore sculpture to scold a Magpie. A pair is nesting here.
In the bushes nearby, one of the nesting Robins was digging among some rotten wood and came up with a caterpillar.
A Starling by the leaf yard rushed around busily but didn't find anything while I was there.
A Carrion Crow enjoyed a bathe in the Serpentine, shook off some of the water and flapped soggily away.
The Little Owl at the Round Pond looked down from a branch in the lime tree, chewing a leaf stem. Perhaps the sap of this fragrant tree has a sweet taste.
The water lilies in the Italian Garden have started coming up, and the leaves provide cover for small fish. The local Grey Heron knows this well.
Six of the eight Coot chicks were scooting around on the water being fed, while two remained in the nest.
Two very aggressive birds, Mute Swans and Coots, manage to nest close to each other without friction. There must be some mutual advantage in this arrangement, which is quite common. This is at the Diana fountain reed bed, and there is another example at the swan nesting island on the Long Water.
The swans nesting on the bank at the Lido came down to the water to feed. There don't seem to be any eggs in the nest yet, though you can never be sure as swans are very good at covering them up when they leave.
The pair at the east end of the Lido have become so casual that they don't even bother to go behind the fence. The place in the reeds where they are supposed to nest is at the right of the picture. Maybe they'll have the sense to use it when the female starts laying eggs.
A female Mallard trotted along the edge of the Serpentine, scooping up algae as she went.
A Speckled Wood butterfly settled on a leaf in the Dell. It's much the most numerous species at the moment.
A striking flower near the Big Bird statue turns out to be an Austrian Copper Rose, but it has been saddled with the unattractive botanical name of Rosa foetida.
Crows look like they get intensely hot with their dark plumage.
ReplyDeleteSean
They run at a temperature that would be a high fever in a human, and their response to sun is often to sunbathe. Both water bathing and sunbathing are mainly to remove parasites.
DeleteDoes it smell as foul as the name promises? It's certainly a lovely colour. Leave it to Australia to have foul-smelling roses, in addition to saltwater crocodiles and spiders the size of a human head.
ReplyDeleteRegarding swans and coots, I am reminded of the strange detente between harpy eagles and toucans in the Amazonian forest. No one will dare build a nest anywhere near the eagles, but toucans do. The eagles tolerate no one, except for toucans. For what mutually beneficial reason, no one knows.
Tinúviel
I only found out the name of the rose when I got home, so I never smelt it. But I am the last person to ask about flower scents, as my sense of smell seems to be lacking some sensors and I don't find them pleasant, and some flowers such as hyacinths actually sickening.
DeleteRemarkable about the harpy eagles and the toucans. I think there are also some instances of actual nest sharing with owls and doves.