A Little owlet looked gravely out from the hole in the horse chestnut tree in Hyde Park. There are two of them, and this is not the one seen on the 23rd and 25th: it has much smaller eyebrows. It seems probable that this is female and the earlier one male.
A young Robin stared from a fallen branch behind the Queen's Temple. I tried to interest it in some pine nuts thrown on the ground in front of it, but it didn't get the idea.
An adult was just beginning to sing again after the summer silence, very quietly. It shut up as soon as I raised the camera, so I couldn't shoot a video.
A young Magpie near Temple Gate begged at both parents but they took no notice. They considered it was time it found food for itself.
A Jay near the Henry Moore sculpture enjoyed a peanut.
A Carrion Crow had carried off Pigeon Eater's leftovers to the Lido restaurant, where it horrified people looking over the edge of the terrace.
The Peregrines were both on the tower, refusing to pose nicely. The male, on the right, kept going to the back of the ledge so I was lucky to get a picture of them at all.
A Great Crested Grebe on the Long Water had a wash and a flap.
In addition to the nests on the island ...
... and by the landing stage ...
... there is now one under the balcony of the Dell restaurant. This is a former Coot nest, but the Coots deserted it some time ago.
Unfortunately Pigeon Eater was on the roof directly above ...
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... and his mate was looking at the nest from the water below.
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Four fountain pools in the Italian Garden have now seen six broods of Coot chicks brought up this year. It's a safer place than the main lake, and the parents know this.
The little Mandarin on the Round Pond was by the gravel strip. The picture shows its almost fully grown wings.
A pair of Egyptian Geese and a Moorhen shared a rowing boat.
The mother at the island is stubbornly holding on to her three surviving goslings.
In the Rose Garden a Honeybee visited an Indian Blanket flower for a moment before flying on to another, but a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee stayed on the same flower and worked over every one of the little florets in the centre.
The loading capacity of a Bumblebee must be much greater than that of a honeybee, so I guess it'll be more expedient for it to browse a greater number of flowers in one go.
ReplyDeleteGive it time. The young one is still learning the ropes of being a Robin.
Tinúviel
A Honeybee could simply fill up on one composite flower instead of wasting energy flitting from one to another a sip at a time. It's not efficient.
DeleteI know Robins in other unfrequented places that have learnt to come to my hand. Not at all sure if they do it individually, or whether they move around enough to copy others.
I have seen a pair of little owls with one owlet around the gallery one month ago, is the owlet a new one?
ReplyDeleteIt was new then, apparently the survivor of two one of which fell out of the nest and died before it could be rescued. The whole family seems to have decamped to another tree and I haven't seen them for some time.
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