Two young Robins were hopping around in at the Queen's Gate crossing of the Flower Walk.
Above them, a Wren perched on a twig.
A Pied Wagtail dashed through the grass by the Round Pond.
It found a crane fly larva.
A female Blackbird in the Rose Garden got a slug.
A Greenfinch looked down from a hawthorn tree near Peter Pan.
The Little Owl at the Round Pond was in an awkward place in the lime tree where you couldn't get a clear view of her from any angle.
There were Reed Warblers all round the lake. Ahmet Amerikali got pictures of one at the Diana fountain ...
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... one at the southwest corner of the bridge ...
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... and another in the little reed bed under the Italian Garden.
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I only managed a hasty and obstructed picture of the one at the east end of the Serpentine ...
... but I did get a video of one at the Diana fountain singing -- there are three singing males in the long reed bed. Inevitably, as soon as you start filming, a bunch of tourists stand next to you and start nattering in loud voices, first Chinese then Italian.
There is another Lesser Black-Backed Gull with dark eyes on the Serpentine. This is a three-year-old, but the one I saw on 5 May was a full adult. The dark eyes may be the result of having had bird flu and recovered. Both gulls seemed perfectly healthy and in good condition.
Yesterday Ahmet found a Mandarin on the gravel strip at the Round Pond with twelve ducklings.
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When I went past this morning she was down to ten.
The Mute Swans at the boathose were both present, but there was no egg. If these are not constantly guarded, evil people steal them.
The family on the Long Water came out of the reeds, watched by the local Coot.
The Coots nesting on the post at Peter Pan have hatched at least one chick. They probably won't keep any for long in this hopelessly exposed place.
A Honeybee rolled around in a yellow rose in the Rose Garden ...
... and a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee visited a small bush best referred to as Hypericum androsaemum, since its common names include Tutsan, Sweet Amber, Park Leaves, Shrubby St John's Wort, and Balm of the Warrior's Wounds.
I love the scratchy song of Reed Warblers. It's so funny-sounding! But I do wonder why they are called Warblers in English. I always assumed warbling was to sing tunefully and in a high register.
ReplyDeleteIn Spanish that hypericum species is called Sanalotodo, Heal-everything.
Tinúviel
It's the related species Hypericum perforatum, (Common) St John's Wort, that has all the beliefs attached to it. Leaves were burnt on the eve of St John's day to banish evil sprits, though why there should have been more of them around at that time is not clear. It has a host of names: cammock, devil chaser, devil's flight, devil's scourge, God's wonder plant, herb John, human blood, Klamath weed, penny John, rosin rose, St Columba's flower. The red sap it what gives it the 'human blood' designation, and that is shared by the relative shown here,which is why it was called H. androsaemum. Common St John's Wort is still used in herbal medicine to treat depression, though some harmful side effects have been noted.
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