On a Sunday with reasonable weather the park was busy, but most of the regulars could be seen. They included the Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge, which is slowly getting more confident and came to my hand twice.
The Robin in the hawthorn in the Rose Garden is quite used to being fed and took six pine nuts.
The Coal Tit perched for an instant in the same tree while chasing me all round the garden ...
... and there were several Blue Tits.
The Chaffinch pair waited in a rose bush.
A flock of Long-Tailed Tits moved through the treetops on the south shore of the Serpentine.
A Pied Wagtail hunting on the edge came right up to my feet.
A pure white Feral Pigeon helped demolish a bowl of chips at the Lido restaurant.
A Magpie stared from a hawthorn beside the Long Water.
The two Common Gulls on the buoys at the Lido swimming area, which have been perching at opposite ends for several days, finally made friends with each other.
Pigeon Eater, in his favourite place on the Dell restaurant roof, was ruffled by the east wind.
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A young Herring Gull played with a leaf.
Continuing the topic of the late arrival of gulls in cities, L. Fairfax pointed out a very interesting post on the Londonist blog.
The single Great Crested Grebe at the island rested under a bush.
The Coots' nest at the bridge was destroyed by the workmen putting up the pontoon, but the Coots are still obstinately staying on the spot. They're standing on a wire basket just below the surface and will have no difficulty in remaking the nest in spring. However, their efforts will be in vain as usual, for no nest in that exposed place has ever succeeeded.
A little girl at the Round Pond who had been to the ballet voiced her opinion of the Black Swan.
There were five Red-Crested Pochard drakes on the Long Water. Their comings and goings are irregular as they circulate around the central London parks.
The swamp cypress by the Italian Garden has turned a hectic ginger but has put out green catkins, which will gradually mature over the winter in the seasonal cycle of this odd deciduous conifer.
Ha! The Starling jumping on the back of the Feral Pigeon is funny.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't imagine reading another blog about birds! I'm a true faithful!
Some are quite dull as well.
I did alarm previously, that the Coots nest on the other side of the railing had been removed. I thought some precaution would have to take place before the works commence, as it is an environmental regulation. As a tradesman myself (sparky) (top of the range - joke) I've came across a Feral Pigeons nest with eggs in it, inside a loft before, and had a lengthy delay due to the right procedures of action. I wouldn't just remove it willy nilly and risk killing them, just for the sake of it. I can only think of it being destroyed because there was no eggs in it.
Sean
It's hard to believe how excited people were to see a Sea Gull in the late 19th century. In a sense we're having a parallel experience: smaller gulls are beginning to colonize reservoirs and wetlands inland, something that was hard to see a few decades ago. I remember when the first pair of Yellow-legged Gulls were sighted at a reservoir in the north-east of where I live: it actually made the regional news, over 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI too favour using Sea Gull or Seagull over Gull: for us there's a difference between the large gulls, which tend to stick by the seaside, and smaller gulls, which are much more exploratory and mobile. A distinction Seagull vs. Gull would be useful in that sense. But I guess it's not the same in London.
Tinúviel
Yellow-Legged Gulls are very occasionally seen in London, but are usually seen only on coasts, both around the Mediterranean and on the Channel coast of France. So I can understand the excitement when one turns up so far inland. I've seen them in the park several times, but not recently.
DeleteHere 'seagull' means absolutely nothing more than a loose word for 'gull' used by people who don't know much about gulls. England is a narrow island with so much coast that all the local species appear inland at some time. I never use the word 'seagull'.
Most bird enthusiasts would disagree with the term 'Seagull'. As it is technically incorrect and generics a common species that does not exist.
ReplyDeleteSean