The rowan fruit on Buck Hill continues to attract Mistle Thrushes, but there are only a few of them this year and we don't get the flocks that used to visit.
Most of the young birds are now teenagers independent of their parents, including the Robin in the Flower Walk which is getting redder by the day ...
... the Blackbird at Mount Gate ...
... the Pied Wagtail by the Serpentine ...
... and this Moorhen in the shrubbery at the Triangle. The picture shows the way a Moorhen has to clench its long toes together when moving its foot forward to avoid catching them on the other leg.
The little Mandarin on the Round Pond was resting on the gravel strip.
This is one of its larger siblings on the collapsed willow at the bridge. Its primary feathers are still not quite adult length, but it must be able to fly because it has come down from the pond to the lake.
I think the little one can probably fly too, but it needs its mother to visit it and bring it down to the lake to join the rest of the family. This is quite possible, as she has been up to see it more than once.
We haven't had a picture of the Mallard family on the Round Pond for a while, as the six teenagers are no longer going around in a compact flock and it's hard to get them all into the frame, but here they are.
One of the dark Mallard drakes was behaving in an uncharacteristic way by repeatedly diving.
A Gadwall was preening on the willow at the bridge -- a different one from yesterday's on this branch. I think there are more Gadwalls than Mallards on the Long Water now, something never seen before.
The latest brood of Egyptian goslings are still tiny, but their mother has been able to keep the last three for several days.
A Greylag at the Triangle pecked bits out of a windfall apple.
The dominant Mute Swan brought his six cygnets to the Vista to tout for food.
Then he went on to the Serpentine to attack the other swans. His mate followed with the cygnets to watch him perform.
All was peaceful at the Great Crested Grebes' nests on the island ...
... and by the landing stage.
A Large White butterfly fed on a verbena flower in the Rose Garden until it was knocked off by another.
A Marmalade Fly vsisited an agapanthus.
He looks so proud of his cygnets. I swear to God his facial expression is as expressive as a human's.
ReplyDeleteGreat news about the three Grebe nests. Better late than never!
Tinúviel
Later than ever before. Maybe the fish were a bit slow spawning or the young fish slow in growing. The availability of small fish is thought to be the trigger for grebes to start nesting.
Delete