A dim day of drizzle and occasional heavier rain kept most of the small birds in shelter. A Robin in the Rose Garden stayed under a bush but accepted some thrown pine nuts ...
... and of course the one at Mount Gate came out of the undergrowth for its share
A Grey Wagtail wandered along the line of plastic buoys at the Lido, wagging its tail frantically.
The rain was keeping the midges away and there wasn't much for it, so it called and flew away.
Pigeon Eater, on his usual station at the Dell restaurant, scratched his beak meditatively.
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Yellow poplar leaves provided a background for the Cormorants at the Vista.
At the island, one jumped on to a post.
There were four on the dead tree. The first one on the lower branch must have had to cling on tight when the other landed and made the thin branch sway violently.
The single young Great Crested Grebe at the east end of the Serpentine was mooching around idly ...
... when suddenly it tore off at full speed.
The reason became clear when its mother surfaced at the far end of the commotion. It must have seen her going past under water, and decided to chase her.
A Moorhen rinsed its feathers, shook them out, and preened in the drizzle.
The Coots at the bridge were stubbornly occupying their ever unsuccessful nest. There is a crowd of other Coots just along the shore but they never seem to interact with them.
The lone teenage Mute Swan at the east end of the lake also shows no sign of wanting to associate with the other swans.
Another lone bird, a Shoveller drake also at the east end. All the other Shovellers are in a group on the Long Water, apart from a few on the Round Pond. There was a solitary Shoveller here in January, and perhaps this is the same one. All the drakes are taking a long time going into breeding plumage ...
... while the Mallards are in full finery.
One of the dark Mallards was at the bridge. Its head is darker and less shiny than those of the normal coloured drakes, much like the head of a Shoveller.
A squirrel in the Dell ate the fruit in a yew tree. Although the red aril around the seed is juicy and sweet the seed is full of poisonous taxol. Perhaps the very hard seed passes through undigested.
Perhaps having being raised without siblings has made the lone teen swan self-sufficient and not inclined to being social? Swans don't strike me as the most social of birds either.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder what is the purpose of wagging one's tail so rapidly and unceasingly.
Tinúviel
The six other cygnets do sometimes associate with other swans, if only to puch them rudely out of the way. But not this solitary teenager.
DeleteI think Grey Wagtails may wag their tails as a signal to other wagtails. They don't call when they're on the ground, only when flying. Pied Wagtails do call on the ground, and don't wag nearly as much.
Experiencing tough childhood, being solitary is the only way that the single cygnet can survive now. The single cygnet can live well in the park on his own, why taking the risk to be bullied again just for meaningless “associate” (especially for this aggressive species)? People are too arrogant to judge others without putting themselves in others’ shoes.
ReplyDelete