A Robin pulled an earthworm out of the ground, a big effort for such a small bird. Whenever it slackened its pull the worm started crawling back in. I filmed it for two minutes and it was still hauling, so I left it. I'm sure it managed in the end. The next stage, also a serious effort, is to peck the worm into bite-sized pieces. This is a meal that has to be really worked for.
The Robin at Mount Gate was glad to come out for a much easier snack of pine nuts.
A Blue Tit in the Rose Garden ate a pine nut that it took from my hand.
A Great Tit waited in the yellow leaves of a wild service tree.
This tree's scientific name, now Torminalis glaberrima, has recently been changed from Sorbus torminalis which put it in the same genus as the rowan S. aucuparia. Torminalis comes from the Latin tormina, colic, for which the astringent fruits were used as a remedy. 'Service' refers to its old use as a flavouring and preservative for beer in the days before hops were brought in -- compare the Spanish word for beer, cervesa.
The Chaffinch pair came out in a rose bush. This is the female.
There was just one Goldfinch in the top of a plane tree, a male alternately twittering and picking seeds out of the spherical fruits.
A black Feral Pigeon sat on the lawn.
The Coal Tit evaded the camera, but the one in the Dell is a bit easier and paused in the corkscrew hazel for long enough to get a picture.
The Jackdaw by the Speke obelisk had brought some of its friends along to ask for peanuts.
A Jay also turned up.
There are so many berries on the holly tree by the bridge that even a Wood Pigeon can't eat them all.
The two Common Gulls on the buoys at the Lido, which used to perch offishly at opposite ends ...
... were only twenty yards apart. Is this the start of a beautiful friendship?
A young Moorhen preened insouciantly right in front of Pigeon Eater. I thought he was going to lunge at it but he let it pass unmolested and flew off to find something else. Evidently he prefers the taste of Feral Pigeons.
A Black-Headed Gull preened in the reflection of autumn leaves in the Long Water.
Although most of the Cormorants have left there was still a little group on the fallen poplar at Peter Pan ...
... and Ahmet Amerikali got a remarkable picture of one just managing to swallow a pike, absolutely the biggest it could get down.
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A beautyberry, Callicarpa bodinieri, has produced bright mauve berries in the Flower Walk.
A Black Pigeon or just completely covered in filth and grease... the Common Gulls could be forming an alliance against the Herring Gulls picking on them.
ReplyDeleteThe Cormorant gang look like the cool kids on the bloke, with their leather jackets.
Sean
Block* bloody autocorrect ey
DeleteWould Pigeon Eater take a moorhen? It would be interesting if the craft he has honed over the years can also be applied to other birds.
ReplyDeleteHe had the chance and didn't take it. Maybe Moorhens taste nasty. I once saw a Grey Heron trying to swallow an adult Moorhen whole. It failed, but by then the poor bird was dead.
DeleteI was having a better day before I read that **cries**
DeleteTinúviel
Sorry.
DeleteThe first video is absolutely amazing. The earthworm is even longer than the Robin! Now that I think of it, the earthworm isn't dangerous for the bird, right? I've seen birds that prey on small snakes sometimes run into serious risks.
ReplyDeleteI've heard it said in the village I grew up in that Moorhens taste absolutely nasty.
Enlarging the picture of the Robin at the Mount Gate - does it have two small white feathers above its beak, or are those droplets that shine white in the light? It'd be the first time I've seen a hint of leucism on a Robin.
Speaking of leucism: have you seen the white lynx recently seen in Jaén?
https://www.euronews.com/green/2025/10/30/spanish-photographer-captures-worlds-first-ever-white-iberian-lynx-on-camera
I've never heard of a worm turning on its predator. Hard to think of anything it could do in retaliation.
DeleteI think the white spots on the Robin's face may be parasites coming to the surface. or it may have been poking into some dusty place. They don't show in any other pictures of it.
No, I didn't know about the white lynx. Remarkable, hardly looks catlike at all with no shading on its face.