On the last day of summer it was still warm and the park was thronged with Sunday crowds. A Starling on the Dell restaurant terrace blended its chatter with the human babble.
This Robin on the steps at the southwest corner of the bridge is now a regular customer and took two pine nuts from my hand.
It seems that Pigeon Eater's attack on his whining offspring yesterday has had the desired effect. He was standing peacefully in his usual place ...
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... and his mate was on the Dell restaurant roof, and there was no sight or sound of the young one.
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The last brood of young Grey Herons came down from their nest at least a fortnight ago, but they still return to it from time to time.
A young heron walked along the edge of the Dell stream, alert for a fish in the water or a rat lurking under the Chilean rhubarb. This plant is always chewed to rags by some caterpillar in the Dell, but the clump by the Italian Garden is untouched.
The Great Crested Grebe chicks from the east end of the island were with their mother while their father went on a fishing expedition ...
... and the two on the south side of the Serpentine were playing with each other as they waited.
Ahmet Amerikali got a good picture of the one at the east end of the lake being fed.
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A Cormorant had a violent wash at Peter Pan ...
... and an Egyptian Goose passed by low over the water.
The male in the Italian Garden was preening on the parapet while his mate was on her nest.
The lone gosling on the Serpentine is now as big as a Mallard and beginning to get proper feathers.
The Gadwall drakes are looking soberly smart again after coming out of eclipse. One preened with its mate on the edge of the lake.
There are still some Willow Emerald damselflies ...
... and also plenty of Migrant Hawker dragonflies and I still haven't managed to get a decent picture of one.
A Common Carder bee made good use of its long proboscis on a stonecrop flower head in the Rose Garden.
This Hornet Hoverfly in a patch of Indian Blanket flowers is the commonly seen species Volucella zonaria ...
... but I think a less bright one in the hemp agrimony in the Dell is its relative V. inanis.
A good selection of insects again, Ralph. Agree with your Volucella IDs. I also saw a V. inanis on my regular Sunday morning walk.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I was very uncertain about the Volucella ID, since V. zonaria is common in the park but this is the first V. inanis I've spotted (though probably I have overlooked others). I've also ever clocked just one V. pellucida quite a few years ago, before I started the blog.
ReplyDeleteV. pellucens seems to like woodland rides, so maybe not so much ideal habitat for them there? I've never seen V. inflata though is supposed to be quite widespread.
DeleteIt was beside the path in a fairly large patch of shrubbery at the corner of the bridge, I suppose the nearest thing in the park to a woodland ride. But it had had to get into central London somehow -- maybe an egg stuck to a bird's foot? I have never seen V. inflata either.
DeleteWhat is their play like? We've seen gulls and moorhens play, but I don't know what Grebes to to play.
ReplyDeleteTo some extent I feel sorry about whiney offspring being forcefully shut up by Pigeon Eater. To some extent.
Tinúviel
Grebe chicks practice their greeting ceremony or chase each other. I hope I get a chance to film it.
DeleteBeing thrown out by your parents is a normal part of life.Humans cloak it in fair words, but it still happens.