The smallest Mandarin duckling on the Round Pond has not been deserted by its mother. Although she has taken the larger two down on to the Long Water, she flew up to visit it this morning and was seen by Jon and Virginia.
It's going to be at least a couple more weeks before it can fly. I wonder how its tail feathers got into that state -- very likely an unsuccessful grab by a Herring Gull. Anyway, it's too large to grab now, and growing well at last.
Another endangered youngster, the single Mute cygnet at the east end of the Serpentine.
So far this year the killer swan has only come a short way on to the Serpentine, but he's made it clear that he wants to own the whole lake. This has happened twice in the past with highly dominant swan pairs, all the other swans being banished to the Round Pond. But there were fewer swans then and it may not happen again.
The Black Swan gazed at a couple of Moorhens. I think a Mute Swan would have pecked them, but he is a more easygoing bird.
The Coot nesting at the north end of the bridge has laid yet more eggs, the third clutch this year -- but sadly all in vain as any chicks are quickly eaten by gulls.
The pair at the other end of the bridge have not learnt from their example, and construction is going ahead briskly.
The three newest Grey Heron chicks are now large and restless and developing their wings. When they fledge they will bring the total this year to 17 from 6 nests, a record for the park.
There's another big gull with unusual dark eyes, a Herring Gull seen on a buoy in the Round Pond. It has been suggested that these have survived bird flu, but no one really knows.
The female Blackbird of the pair in the Rose Garden was annoyed by the noise going on under her tree. It's the last day of the summer concerts, and one of the groups had come out of the enclosure to have an unplugged singalong with the crowd. The song was 'Strange Magic', first performed by the ELO in 1975. I don't think anyone would want to sing along to anything written this century.
The male Blackbird in the Flower Walk was out foraging for his youngster again. I still haven't seen it, but unmistakable begging sounds are coming out of the bushes.
The young Robin was poking around nearby.
The young Carrion Crows are now quite big enough to do their own hunting and scavenging, but that doesn't stop them from constantly nagging their parents, even when these take refuge in trees to get away from them.
Ahmet Amerikali got a good picture of a young Blackcap at the southwest corner of the bridge.
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In the bushes below a mating pair of Black-Tailed Skimmer dragonflies got a shock when an ant walked over one of their feet.
Several Emperors were flying at the Italian Garden.
Duncan Campbell's investigation of the patch of Field Thistles yesterday also turned up a Green-Veined White butterfly.
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I found a tattered Gatekeeper on a burdock by the Vista. The small insect on the stem below is probably a Mirid Bug, Plagiognathus arbustorum.
Two gaudy varieties of Indian Blanket flower in the Rose Garden attracted a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee ...
... and a Honeybee.
I remember seeing a piece on some journal depicting how insects saw flowers. They didn't see colours as such. They saw shapes on them that can only be called landing strips or the equivalent of taxi lights, which were revealed by shining an UV light on the flower.
ReplyDeleteExcellent news about the little Mandarin. Mother ducks are the best.
I wonder if the Black Swan is pondering its slight resemblance to the humbler species?
Tinúviel
A single bee does tend to stick to just one kind of flower, though how it's recognising it is another matter. On a single flower the UV aiming marks run down the centre of each petal, forming something like an asterisk. But what about composite flowers like those above?
DeleteI think the Black Swan is thinking 'Annoying little creatures, I wish they'd go away', but he's too indolent to shoo them.
The news of a day ago was that Jeff Lynne's ELO, who were to have headlined the last of this season's BST Hyde Park concert series on Sunday just gone, had pulled the plug on it due to his illness. Maybe the impromptu performance was by the rest of the band. There is a rival incarnation called The Orchestra, with a better lead singer than Lynne now is, but its only remaining original band member is Mik Kaminski the violinist (who once moonlit in his own band Violinski).
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your piece I had been refreshing myself on the differences between a Gatekeeper and a Meadow Brown, since at one time I mistook the latter for the former. Then I heard a knocking from inside the ceiling striplight, thought I would rescue whatever it was and astoundingly it was a Gatekeeper. It is rare that any kind of butterfly enters the house and possibly the first time for one to be trapped in this striplight, though a fair few moths have been. After repeatedly dodging my attempts to bat it away from the naked tube with a ruler, eventually it settled on the latter and I was able to knock it off out of a window. Goodness knows if it survives much longer though. Jim
I couldn't see what was going on, just the edge of a crowd. Of course the performance was anytying but electric, a pleasing contrast to the thousand-watt thumping and mooing of the last few days. If I could go back into the past and uninvent something it would be the loudspeaker.
DeleteGatekeeper vs Meadow Brown is one of the easy distinctions. You look for the two white dots on the black eyespot on the forewing. It was well done to get the creature out of the house unharmed.
Just to mention Ralph, Meadow Browns do occasionally have 2 white dots in the dark eye-spot, though not often. A better distinction is Meadow Browns have a variable number of tiny black dots on the underwing, while Gatekeeper has tiny white ones. There are other difference but more difficult to convey in words.
DeleteA good selection of insects here. Are you still seeing Lesser Emperor & Red-veined Darters. On Saturday I visited the Gunnersbury Park Round Pond where there were 3 male Red-veined Darters. Also several pairs of mating Willow Emeralds.
An interesting gull. The bill is very thin & looks almost like that of a Common Gull though the head is the wrong shape. Presumably it is a slightly different Herring Gull?
Thanks for the information abouty Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns.
DeleteYes, I saw Lesser Emperors and Darters flying today, though I didn't get close enough to the latter to see the colour of their wings. Also several Brown Hawkers speeding on straight courses and impossible to photograph.
When I saw that gull I thought it looked like a Common -- it was a long way off and impossible to gauge its size. That was why I took the picture, at the maximum extent of the lens. I am still a bit puzzled by the markings on its very dark bill.
Well I'm pleased to report the butterfly flew up this morning from where I dropped it, but now I'm not
Deleteat all sure of ID.
DeleteNo loudspeakers = back to gramophones? Jim
Glad to hear that the butterfly is now able to enjoy the rest of its little life. As a reward you get a terrible poem by Thomas Haynes Bayly, deservedly included in The Stuffed Owl.
DeleteI'd be a Butterfly born in a bower,
—Where roses and lilies and violets meet;
Roving for ever from flower to flower,
—And kissing all buds that are pretty and sweet!
I'd never languish for wealth, or for power,
—I'd never sigh to see slaves at my feet:
I'd be a Butterfly born in a bower,
—Kissing all buds that are pretty and sweet.
O could I pilfer the wand of a fairy,
—I'd have a pair of those beautiful wings;
Their summer days' ramble is sportive and airy,
—They sleep in a rose when the nightingale sings.
Those who have wealth must be watchful and wary;
—Power, alas! naught but misery brings!
I'd be a Butterfly, sportive and airy,
—Rocked in a rose when the nightingale sings!
What, though you tell me each gay little rover
—Shrinks from the breath of the first autumn day:
Surely 'tis better when summer is over
—To die when all fair things are fading away.
Some in life's winter may toil to discover
—Means of procuring a weary delay—
I'd be a butterfly; living, a rover,
—Dying when fair things are fading away!
And yes, clockwork gramophones with horns.
Absolutely love the vid of the 3 juv herons.... the beginning reminds me of Rod Hull and Emu in triplicate!!! Showing my age now.....
ReplyDeleteThey really are the most ridiculous creatures. I wondered whether Rod Hull' s Emu had been inspired by his observing an actual bird, but its origin seems to be obscure.
Delete