A Hobby appeared high over Kensington Gardens. It had caught an unfortunate Swift.
The Hobbies seem to be nesting outside the park this year so we aren't seeing much of them, but the many dragonflies over the Round Pond attract them.
The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in the old chestnut next to her nest tree.
An owlet could be heard calling from the nest tree, but as before it was in a place invisible from the ground.
Two young Magpies begged at and chased their parent around the lawn under the Henry Moore sculpture.
This is a young Robin from the pair just up the path. I only got one shot, as there was a man lumbering obliviously towards it and it had to flee.
An adult came out on a twig near the Italian Garden. They have almost stopped singing and won't start again till the autumn.
A Blackbird at Mount Gate caught a beetle.
A Jay was sunbathing near the leaf yard.
A family of Reed Warblers made a racket in the reeds east of the Lido. A parent appeared for a moment holding a fly.
A Grey Heron was fishing in the water lilies in the Italian Garden.
Another sunbathed at the Serpentine island.
The smallest Mandarin duckling was picking midges and larvae off the surface of the Round Pond. It needs all the protein it can get to catch up with the other two much larger ducklings.
Some kind people are giving it mealworms to help it along.
While the Greylag Geese are moulting and flightless, if one wants to go from the Round Pond to the Serpentine it has to walk down the Vista, a dangerous business on a sunny Sunday when the park is full of dogs.
The single white Greylag ...
... and the Bar-Headed x Greylag hybrid were safely on the edge of the Serpentine where they could retreat if danger threatened.
Common Blue Damselflies darted around over the algae in the Italian Garden fountains. A pair were mating. The female is the brownish one.
A drab coloured male Black-Tailed Skimmer dragonfly looked quite smart against the background of a rusty bit of tinplate under the Italian Garden.
A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee browsed on the blossom in a lime tree.
A father had brought his four children to the park to make model boats entirely out of available materials -- twigs, grass and waste paper -- and sail them on the Round Pond. A brilliant idea.
What a wonderful idea, and what a wonderful picture it made! Did you talk to them? I bet they'd have great stories to tell.
ReplyDeleteThe sunbathing Jay looks ready to join the next iteration of the Sex Pistols.
To think that there is something on this earth able to catch a Swift. It's hard to believe.
Tinúviel
No, I didn't talk to them, just silently admired them. The three-masted ship on the right sailed surprisingly well.
DeleteI was going round the park with Tom, and he said that Peregrines can also catch Swifts. Less agile than Hobbies but faster. I hate to see there magical beings caught, but Nature has her own rules.
Good to see the Hobby though unfortunate for the Swift!
ReplyDeleteMy wife visited the Round Pond yesterday & saw at least 6 Red-veined Darters including a mating pair & egg-laying.
I didn't return from Northumberland until last evening but hope to visit either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. The only dragonfly I saw there (it had been very blustery) was a Golden-ringed Dragonfly on a small stream in the Cheviot Hills.
I wonder where the Hobbies nest when it isn't in the park. They are noisy and you'd think someone would notice.
DeleteI wonder if maybe Holland Park?
DeleteI did visit the park early afternoon & found 8 male Red-veined Darters at the Round Pond.
Visiting the bridge we found a patrolling male Lesser Emperor on the Serpentine side, near where several last year.
I saw the Kingfisher on the Long water flying down towards the Italian Garden end. Also 5 male Red-crested Pochard & 30 gadwall.