A Robin in the Rose Garden sang in competition with a rival in the next bush, which you can hear answering.
One of the Coal Tits also appeared in the hawthorn tree ...
... as well as one in the yew in the Dell ...
... and one in the Flower Walk. There are pairs in all these places but mostly you see one at a time.
The Little Owl at the Vista is tricky to photograph in the hole on a sunny day, as the hole is on the shaded side of the tree and you have to stand in the tree's shadow to avoid glare.
I'm not sure, but I don't think this is the one I saw here earlier. Little Owls' eyebrows are very mobile but these are definitely smaller than the first owl's and it looks like a female. It's good news if there's a pair here.
The owl was frightened back into the hole by a Jay landing on a branch in front of it.
A Carrion Crow in the Rose Garden ate a rat in front of the floral boder, to suitably dreadful musical accompaniment from the funfair.
The usual pair of Magpies followed me down the east side of the Long Water.
You put out one peanut for each of them, well spaced apart, and of course the bolder bird swoops down and takes both of them. You wouldn't think a Magpie could hold two peanuts.
I didn't manage to call the Robin out at Mount Gate, but this Magpie was there looking through fallen leaves. The interesting thing about this very ordinary picture is that it was taken at sunset in the shade. I used the low light function of the Lumix FZ-2000 camera and the result is quite good. No retouching of the picture has been done.
It ws the turn of a Wood Pigeon to perch on the dead tree by the Italian Garden.
A Grey Heron fished under the sunlit willow at the bridge.
Pigeon Eater enjoyed the sunshine in his favourite place on the Dell restuarant roof.
%20on%20roof%20in%20sunshine%202025%201a.jpg)
The Black Swan collected his current Mute girlfriend 4GIQ from a crowd and followed her across the lake. It's not clear what she thinks of his attentions, but she doesn't actually chase him away.
A new swan nesting island has been installed on the Serpentine not far from the new reed bed at the bridge. Woven from withies, it looks like a big dog basket. It's stronger than it looks as it has a wooden frame. It should serve the purpose well, but its effect on the swan politics of the lake has to be seen.
The single young Egyptian Goose was preening in a puddle on the horse ride. Then it spotted me and came over hoping to be fed. A lot of people are feeding it, and it's very spoilt.
A large black bracket fungus on one of the small plane trees by the boathouses. It's probably too old and dark to identify.
The Moon, still one day off full, rose over the Wasteland.
It's a 'supermoon', nearer than usual and looking larger. As Shakespeare remarked in Othello,
She comes more near the earth than she was wont,And makes men mad.
4GIQ is one of the couple breeding near Diana Fountain in the past two years (unfortunately they failed in the both of the years). Don’t want to gossip, but have they divorced?
ReplyDeleteI think they must have, or 4GIQ's mate has died -- I don't know whether he had a ring. Otherwise he would certainly have attacked the Black Swan.
DeleteIndeed, the moon is making people mad. I wish all fights could be solved by having a singing-off, like Robins do.
ReplyDeleteDidn't swans mate for life, and divorce is unheard of? I should imagine she's lost her mate. Or maybe her mate doesn't recognize that she's being courted by the black swan?
Tinúviel
The normal procedure for a dominant male swan who wants a particular female is to defeat or even kill her existing mate. So not exactly fidelity. The Black Swan may have fought 4GIQ's mate. But this is pure speculation. We only see a small part of what is going on.
DeleteReally enjoying the lighting in these today, and it's hard to pick a favourite. Several would make profound wall calendar illustrations, including the Robin video, if that were possible. Or maybe I should look closer more often. Jim
ReplyDeleteThe low winter sunlight makes for attractive effects. If only there are a bit more of it. On cloudy days it's murky even at noon.
Delete4GIQ's mate (has a silver ring, but no orange darvic) was involved in a big fight with the Long Water cob (4DTH) recently, but he was fine when I saw the pair together a couple of days later. Foggy (the Black Swan) was with 4GIQ this time last year, but was chased away by the mate in the spring (so may happen again). 4GIQ's mate when she nested in 2024 was 4FUM, so either a different mate, or the same one who has somehow lost his darvic.
ReplyDeleteCan see why the swan nesting island was located in that spot (with the new reed beds to come, and being the furthest spot away from the pedalos in the spring), but can't think of a worse place on the Serpentine to put it in terms of the current pairs...any new pair nesting there are going to be in the middle of the territorial battle between the Long Water, Landing Stage (4GIQ) and Lido (4FUL) pairs.
Great thanks for the very detailed information Jon. 4GIQ must be very attractive in the view of swans, since I also saw another very aggressive Mute male greet her when she was with her cygnets in 2024 (sadly, the cygnets passed away later). Or maybe they are relatives.
DeleteJust heard from Jon that this afternoon 4GIQ was back with her original mate, both of them being chased by the kliller on the Serpentine.
Delete