A Jay found an acorn under an oak tree by the leaf yard. They will have buried a good store of them for the winter, and will remember where every one is.
Another Jay landed in a hawthorn near the bridge and started looking for insects and larvae, of which hawthorns have plenty.
A flock of Long-Tailed Tits had been going through the same tree, and retreated into the neighbouring yew with cries of alarm. They were invisible in the yew but I got a hasty shot of one of them on a hawthorn twig.
A Blackbird was looking for worms under the Henry Moore sculpture.
Many shrubs have been confused by the mild weather earlier in autumn and have blossomed, including this camellia in the Flower Walk. A Robin in it is mildly annoyed by a Great Tit landing too close.
The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge paused from persecuting the Great Tits and came out on a bramble to ask for a pine nut.
One of the coal Tits in the Rose Garden allowed itself to be photographed. They are less skittish than they were, knowing that they if they appear for a few seconds they can get all the pine nuts they want.
A Pied Wagtail looked under a leaf on the edge of the Serpentine.
A Carrion Crow drank from a muddy puddle.
A Magpie posed by a false yucca in an urn in the Italian Garden.
The Grey Heron at the Lido played with a twig.
Four Common Gulls stood in a row on the posts at Peter Pan.
Cormorants preened in the sunshine on the fallen tree, with Black-Headed Gulls, a Coot, a Moorhen and a passing Gadwall.
The pair of Moorhens at the Vista were preening each other.
November doesn't stop a Coot from building yet another nest. It has no intention of breeding, but nest building is hardwired into its not very great brain.
A group of Mute Swans feeding the edge of the Serpentine were suddenly charged by a male in an aggressive mood.
A Common Pochard drake and three females dived in the lake under the Italian Garden.
Four Red-Crested Pochards flew over the Serpentine in the evening light.
The Confused Camellia is an excellent title for a short children's story.
ReplyDeleteI admire Jays. I can't even find my socks, and they can find a myriad of acorns buried in unmarked holes.
A Robin vs a Great Tit, or, an irresistible force meets an unmovable object.
Tinúviel
Yes, when I put my phone down in a moment of inattention and can't remember where, I envy the memorious Jays.
DeleteI suspect that Robins and Great Tits actually enjoy their little squabbles. The Robins never manage to clear the Great Tits out of their private bush, they just have a go occasionally, and the tits are not in the least abashed and keep coming out. Also, I have seen a Great Tit, and once a belligerent Blue Tit, knock a Robin off my hand.
I loved watching the pochards dive into rings of water and then emerge again in rings of water some time later. The photography is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you. They spend a lot of time submerged, hence the cuts in the video.
ReplyDeleteThe seasons certainly are confused this year. Took a picture of a flowering hollyhock on the seafront at Ramsgate earlier this week. I wonder if other coal tits might learn to be bolder?
ReplyDeleteThe first birds to come to your hand are Great Tits: in the park anyone can feed them. Then the watching Blue Tits and Robins see that it's safe and start coming, and finally the Coal Tits which have a hard time as they are jostled by the bigger birds. But if you feed in the same place every day they always will come.
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