The male Chaffinch in the Rose Garden is difficult to feed. Chaffinches won't come to your hand and have to be fed on the ground, but there they have to contend with all the other birds.
There are now four regular pairs of Coal Tits and I saw three of them: in the Rose Garden ...
... in the Dell ...
... and at Mount Gate. Not sure whether numbers of these charming little birds are increasing, or that they're just learning that they'll get fed in return for posing for a photograph.
The Robin at Mount Gate came out of a bush when called.
Jays appeared all round the Long Water. This one was near the Italian Garden ...
... and this one by Temple Gate ...
... where there was also a Magpie in the top of a hawthorn.
The amazingly fruitful holly tree here still has plenty of berries, but the Wood Pigeons have eaten all the easy ones and are have to reach farther.
The Rose-Ringed Parakeets, perfectly camouflaged against green leaves, are now becoming conspicuous.
Our one and only Grey Wagtail was hunting along the south shore of the Serpentine. After I had finished filming it and was going away, as usual there was furious tweeting as pair of Pied Wagtails who think they own the strip turned up and chased it off.
Another nest on the Serpentine island has been claimed by a Grey Heron, the one in the middle of the shore side of the island. This was a successful site in the previous season.
More Common Gulls are arriving. This one was on a post at the Triangle.
A Great Crested Grebe looked for fish in submerged fallen leaves by the bridge, and found one.
Moorhens will eat practically anything, and grass is on the menu.
The Black Swan was back following 4GIQ. Yesterday her inattentive Mute mate reappeared and claimed her, and then both of them were chased away by the killer swan.
This Canada dozing on a fallen tree at Peter Pan is not the one I photographed here last week, which since then has sadly died for reasons that are still unknown. Oddly this one looks very like it, with an odd droopy tail.
More seasonal confusion: the flowering paperbushes in the Dell have been joined by a dogwood putting out blossom among faded yellow leaves.
What a beautiful gull, with its winter black lipstick plumage. I've yet to see one in person, along with the GBB gull. They are regular visitors of the park, as I've learnt from the blog and I need to time it right for an encounter.
ReplyDeleteSean
I recall that several years ago we had a healthily entertaining dose of mute swan soap opera. I think it's going to shape up like that.
ReplyDeleteWhether it's more Coal Tits in general or more Coal Tits getting the secret password, it's good news either way. If the latter, that means the Coal Tit grapevine is as active, detailed, extensive, and precise as the corvid one, no mean feat when you're all of ten grams.
Tinúviel
I think the increasing familiarity of Coal Tits is purely local. They see the Great Tits coming first, then the Blue Tits and Robins, and pluck up courage to have a go themselves. You can see them perched diffidently on a twig as they make up their minds. But once they start coming they're really insistent and follow you around.
DeleteThey are learning boldness! Good for them
DeleteCoal Tits are generally scarce around me though I'm getting one or two daily to my sunflower hearts feeder so my garden is the local hot spot for them! I tend to mainly get them autumn & winter.
ReplyDeleteLovely photo of the Cotinus with the Edgeworthia. I noticed the latter in Kew's lovely winter garden were in bud & normally in full flower soon in the new year.
It seems that the secret of success with Coal Tits is sustained bribery. As with so much in life.
DeleteIt will be interesting to see if the paperbushes, normally early starters but very slow to flower after that, can keep up their progress through the pit of winter. I suspect that the flowers will wither and they will have to try again at the proper time.