Young Blackbirds have a ginger tinge to their brown feathers and their shoulders are patterned as well as the typical thrush markings on their fronts. This one was at the back of the Queen's Temple.
As they age they lose the shoulder pattern and, if they are female and not getting the black plumage of the male adult, they shift quite slowly into the drab brown adult pattern with a plain back and only faint markings on the front. This one was on the big ash tree at the corner of the Dell.
Male Dunnocks, like this one across the path from the Buck Hill shelter, have more plain grey around their head than females which are browner and more stripy.
Male and female Robins look exactly alike, and outside the breeding season both sexes sing. This is the tatty one at Mount Gate which always comes out for pine nuts. It will get smart new feathers in the autumn.
Long-Tailed Tits were silhouetted against the sky in the top of a holly tree by the bridge.
The Reed Warblers are still here, and Ahmet Amerikali got good shots of one by the Diana fountain ...
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... and another under the Italian Garden.
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The dead tree here on the edge of the Long Water provides a useful vantage point for Grey Herons, which can scan the lake for fish and the undergrowth for rats.
A young Cormorant occupied the place on the wire basket at the east end of the Serpentine island where there is usually a heron. As with the heron, nesting instinct kicked in and it couldn't stop playing with the twigs -- though these were originally put here by a Coot building a nest in an unsuitable place.
A closer view of the Great Crested Grebes' nest in the bushes behind. One parent was building up the ever sinking nest while one of the two chicks shifted around restlessly on the other parent's back. I still haven't been able to get a shot of both the chicks together, as they spend most of the time hidden under their parent's wings.
The six teenage Mute Swans were near the island while their parents harassed the local swans.
The Black Swan, while smaller than the Mutes, dominates them by its aggressive pushiness. However, last year it lost a fight with the killer male -- no wonder -- and left the lake for some time before returning.
Meadow Cranesbill is a favourite flower of Honeybees, and the patch at the east end of the Lido attracted crowds of them.
A clump of Ground Blue Convolvulus, C. sabatius, in the Dell was also a popular destination. This pretty flower is planted by gardeners while they strive to eradicate its close relative Common Bindweed, which bees like just as much.
A Harlequin Ladybird climbed a stem by the bridge ...
... and a Hornet Hoverfly advanced over a leaf.
A Marmalade Hoverfly enjoyed the warmth of the iron railings at the Vista.
Fair play to Black Swan for not being pushed aside by the Mutes. I say come one, come all and we are all colorblind.
ReplyDeleteSean
No doubt in their native Wsstern Australia these fierce creatures are even more horrible to each other than our swans.
DeleteGreat idea to make comparative pictures of the different plumages. Prodesse et delectare!
ReplyDeleteYoung Blackbirds look even more lost in their own heads than their parents, and that's saying something.
I see the teen swans are well on the way of perfecting their bullying game.
Tinúviel
Perhaps the most unsettling thing about Blackbirds is their apparent cries of panic when they are just flying to the next tree.
DeleteJenna reported seeing the young swans being taken round the island by the parents, so the whole family is advancing farther and farther up the lake. I am worried about the single cygnet, which is still quite small