The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in his usual place in the chestnut tree ...
... and there was the sound of an owlet begging, but try as I might I couldn't see it from any angle. The call was coming from somewhere around the nest hole and it may have been inside.
Is it just human imagination, or do the Great Tit parents look absolutely at the end of their tether as their young continue to beg at them? At any rate, they will be able to stop quite soon and spend the rest of the summer recovering.
A Carrion Crow grabbed a bit of bread from someone feeding the waterfowl at the Dell restaurant and dunked it in the lake, picking up a tasty coating of algae.
A Grey Wagtail was hunting on the shore near the outflow ...
... and a Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Round Pond caught a small insect.
A young Herring Gull on the pond played with a twig.
The young Grey Heron was still fishing on the electric boat platform, evidently a good place.
A Moorhen found a comfortable spot to rest on the canvas cover of an electric boat, buttoned over the minor controls to stop hirers from messing around with them.
The four young Coots from the nest near the Peter Pan statue are now almost fully grown, but still have greyish juvenile plumage. You can hear a Greenfinch singing in the tree above.
There are several more Coot nests in silly places around the Serpentine. This one has just appeared at the Triangle. It may be hard on the Coots to have few good places to nest but it's a mercy, as the population is steadily climbing.
Such is the reign of terror exercised by the dominant male Mute Swan on the lake with his six cygnets, that only one other nest has produced any young, and even then just one cygnet. The nest was well hidden in the reed bed by the Serpentine outflow, as far from the dominant swan's domain on the Long Water as possible.
The Bar-Headed x Greylag Goose hybrid sat on the edge of the Serpentine patiently waiting for its new flight feathers to come through.
The smallest Mandarin duckling on the Round Pond had strayed off again, but was returning to the family when I found it.
The young Mallards are getting proper speckled feathers.
A female Emperor dragonfly below the Italian Garden fountains was laying eggs on bits of floating reed.
A Comma butterfly rested on a nettle. There are now quite a lot of these beautiful creatures flying around the lake.
A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee worked over an eryngium flower near the Lido.
It's not your imagination. It does indeed look like it's about to throw in the towel.
ReplyDeleteLook how attentively and devotedly the swan looks at its only cygnet. How sad.
Tinúviel
It was very hard to see what was going on at the swan's nest hidden in the reeds, but I never at any time saw more than one cygnet. It's quite likely that only one egg hatched.
DeleteI have been watching the grebes for any sign of chicks but none so far. Took a boat out to check behind the island but the grebe nest there has gone. Do you think it's too late for chicks? PS loving reading your bird diary and all the comings and goings
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking the same thing. But grebes can nest any time during the next two months with every prospect of success. The trouble is that we don't have many grebes at the moment, much fewer than usual at this time of year. I am watching the shore of the Long Water with binoulcars every day.
DeleteThank you. I am doing the same and will let you know if I spot any grebes nesting or with chicks!
ReplyDelete