It was a cold day with a sharp north wind, but the Swifts have arrived. A party of about 30 was screaming around the weathervane of the Lido restaurant.
There were more over the Round Pond, but understandably no sign of the Little Owl. A pair of Great Crested Grebes were on the pond, evidently having flown up from the Long Water where there is now only one pair. The pond has plenty of fish but no cover at all, so they never stay here long.
One of the Mandarin drakes had also come up, probably needing a bit of peace after the constant bickering of the others on the Serpentine. Usually when females are nesting the males are quite easy together, but something seems to have got into those three.
The successful Egyptian Goose mother led her eight teenagers across the pond. They are almost full grown now. It's a fine achievement, but thank goodness Egyptians aren't always so successful or we souldn't be able to move for the crowds of them.
On the Serpentine, the solitary Gadwall drake by the boat hire platform is already going into eclipse, with patches of female-type brown feathers appearing.
A Grey Wagtail was hunting on the edge of the lake at the end of the Lido restaurant terrace. The place is shaded by bushes and can't be viewed from the shore -- the video was shot from the jetty. This privacy makes it a popular spot for wagtails hunting insects.
A couple of minutes later a Pied Wagtail turned up in the same place.
A young Grey Heron on the big fallen poplar in the Long Water is probably one of the two surviving offspring from the first nest on the island , which was started last December.
The third brood of young herons are now permanently out of the nest, so there are now eight young this year, with the possibility of more if another pair get round to nesting.
A heron landed on the shore by the Mute Swan and Coots' nests by the Diana fountain landing stage. Both the residents were annoyed, and the swan hissed and the Coots squawked at it.
The heron left hastily. Perhaps the incident gives a clue as to why swans and Coots are happy to nest together.
The male swan on the Long Water had nothing to do while his mate was sitting on the nest, and wandered off. But he couldn't stop picking up straw and arranging it, as if he was building the nest. He started by pulling bits off the Coots' nest, which is now abandoned.
The Coots and their eight chicks in the Italian Garden fountain discovered a lot of insect larvae just below the surface. The chicks fed themselves as fast as they could, and were given extras by their parents.
A Blackbird near the Flower Walk added itself to the collection of pictures of birds gathering insects for their nestlings.
The Long-Tailed Tit family at the northwest corner of the bridge were whizzing around in the leaves. An adult came out on a twig for just long enough to be photographed. Its tail is frayed from nesting.
A Starling was ruffled and cross after being pointlessly attacked by a Carrion Crow at the leaf yard.
A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee was having a great time in a rugosa rose in the Rose Garden. All bees love the abundant pollen of these roses and go wild when they find one, rolling around frantically to pick up as much as possible.
An Early Bumblebee browsed on a green alkanet flower by the leaf yard. They seem to have a particular liking for green alkanet, and when I see one it's almost always on this plant.
Oh my Goodness, that bumblebee is the happiest thing I've seen in a month! I know humanising animals is not the done thing, but how else can anyone interpret that behaviour except as true happiness?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your Swifts! I should imagine they're common Swifts not Pallid, right?
I do think we do indeed have no some inkling about why Coots and Swans tolerate one another. It's a layered air defence, kind of like the avian equivalent of the Buk - Pantsir- S 300 - S 400 system.
Tinúviel
If bees can be happy, that's a happy bee.
DeleteYes, they're Common Swifts. We don't get Pallid Swifts at all.
The idea of Coots and swans building a layered defence is intriguing, but I really don't think they're up to it, especially Coots which are irredeemably dim.
I wish more could be done for the swifts (and hirundines in general). Artificial nests/boxes for house martins and swifts could so easily be placed on the bridge or on the back side of some of the buildings, maybe a sand martin tower placed somewhere like the Lookout (what could be in better keeping with the objective of an education centre?). And at so little cost, too.
ReplyDeleteIt would be hard to understimate the extent to which the park management cares about wildlife. Even at the Lookout the main thing is organising parties of schoolchildren to look at fashionable invertebrates and be told lies about 'global warming', and anything else is ignored.
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