Owl surprise

On a day with a sharp and chilly east wind it was a surprise to see the female Little Owl at the Queen's Temple looking out of her hole.

She didn't do anything much, just looked down for a moment and went back to dozing. It was near sunset, and she would have been waiting for the park to close so she could go hunting.

Nearby, a Song Thrush sang quietly to himself as he lurked in the twigs of a hawthorn tree near the Queen's Temple.

The male Robin at Mount Gate sang at dusk amid the traffic noise of the busy road. His mate, on the railings a few yards away, is less vocal but answered him occasionally.

The colder day brought out a lot of small birds in the Rose Garden, including a Great Tit in the blossom buds of a dogwood tree ...

... a Coal Tit ...

... and a Blue Tit in a rose bush ...

... and the familiar male Chaffinch in a hawthorn.

It was business as usual at the corkscrew hazel in the Dell, with the two Coal Tits ...

... and several Blue Tits ...

... dodging the jealous Robin.

The Robin at the southwestern corner of the bridge is also bossy about his tree, but the tits crowd round him anyway.

The pontoon people at the bridge are willing to remove a few sections from the end of their raft to allow the swans to pass, but the procedure has to go through their management and probably the Byzantine bureaucracy of the park manager before anything is done.

Meanwhile the boss swan's mate is still waiting sadly at the Vista ...

... while he pointlessly swims up and down the other side of the bridge.

The wind made for good flying weather and the big male 4GIS hauled himself into the air ...

... but the idea has simply not occurred to the boss, who has always gone under the bridge and is set in his ways. It's lucky that he didn't notice the Black Swan chasing some of his teenagers. 

(By the way, the pontoons blocking the bridge are on the other side. What you see here is a smaller raft that is moved around.)

Canada Geese grazing beside the Serpentine saw a loose dog approaching in the distance and moved in a dignified manner to the safety of the water.

The barriers around the Wasteland site are coming down at last, revealing a scene of devastation even worse than last year's. But nature is already beginning to heal the mess, helped by the very efficient Talbot turf company who will be moving in soon for another million-pound job. The daffodils confined under the ramp are green again, but they have been set back and won't be flowering for a couple of weeks.

Blocked

The pontoon used by the repairers of the Serpentine bridge has been moved to the other side of the bridge, and it now blocks the way through the bridge completely, closing the narrow channel that was used by waterfowl to save having to fly over the top.

The dominant Mute Swan's new mate was on the Long Water side ...

... and he was on the other. He checked all the bridge arches to see if there was a way through, but there wasn't.

Their rivalry forgotten, he and the Black Swan looked at each other in consternation.

Of course all of them could just fly over the top, but that would be an effort and it's not what they are used to, and they are most annoyed. I've texted the Wildlife Officer to see if he can get the repairers to remove a few sections from one end of the pontoon to restore the passage.

A pair of Carrion Crows on the bridge cornice examined the moss to see if there were any insects in it.

The single teenage swan was by itself at the east end of the Serpentine. So far it has shown no interest in any swans other than its parents.

On the shore nearby, Pigeon Eater was back from yesterday's excursion. He yawned several times.

When humans and other mammals yawn, it's usually because inactivity has lowered their breathing rate and they feel the need for more oxygen. This doesn't happen to birds with their more efficient respiratory system. For them yawning is akin to stretching, which they also do with their wings and legs.

The pair of Egyptian Geese that often stand on the Henry Moore sculpture got overexcited when another pair landed on the hill on the other side of the path, and the two shouted at each other for several minutes. This is just a short clip of their defiance.

Just along the path, a Great Spotted Woodpecker called from a treetop ...

... a Song Thrush sang in the distance, answering another on the far side of the lake ...

... and the local Robin struck one of his poses on a railing spike waiting to be fed.

The forsythia bush at Mount Gate where the male Robin likes to perch is budding and about to burst into premature blossom.

The Cootamundra Wattle by the north gate of the Rose Garden is already flowering, making a pretty background for a Blue Tit.

One of the Coal Tits waited in a hawthorn before coming down to my hand for pine nuts.

A Coal Tit in the corkscrew hazel in the Dell ...

... and a Blue Tit ...

... easily bypassed the jealous Robin trying to stop them from taking pine nuts off the railings.

But the Coal Tit at the southwest corner of the bridge is hard to feed. It doesn't dare to fly to my hand, and there is such a mob of Great Tits and Blue Tits, as well as a jealous Robin, that it has a hard time coming to the railings. Feral Pigeons make feeding on the ground almost impossible. But eventually persistence pays off and it always manages to get a pine nut or two somehow.

The female Chaffinch in the Flower Walk has the same problem, but always succeeds if both of us keep trying.

Still a truce on the Long Water

The Black Swan was still on the Long Water, and came over to the Vista.

He was left alone by the dominant Mute Swan, who had parked his new mate at the Vista while he went on several expeditions ...

... under the bridge to beat up the swans on the Serpentine.

A Moorhen at the Vista picked up a tiny white larva, probably the same thing that we often see the Pied Wagtails finding on the edge of the Serpentine.

Another Great Crested Grebe has arrived on the Serpentine, still completely in winter plumage. It was fishing near the bridge.

On the other side of the bridge one of the Long Water pair was fishing under the willow. It's a good place because the submerged branches are too crowded and tangled for Cormorants, so it's left for grebes ...

... and Grey Herons, one of which stepped nimbly over a branch.

A preening heron was reflected in the little stream in the Dell.

Pigeon Eater and his mate were away from their usual territory, and as often happens a pair of Herring Gulls had taken their place on the roof. I think it's always the same pair.

A pair of Stock Doves is often seen on a dead branch of a tall lime tree on Buck Hill near Magazine Gate. There are several holes in this tree, and a Green Woodpecker is another occupant. I heard it calling but it wasn't visible.

A Jay waited for a peanut in a tree near the Italian Garden. Two women below were exclaiming how beautiful it was, which may have been why it put its crest up.

The Robin near the Buck Hill shelter also seems to be aware of being admired.

The one in the Dell was at its usual game of trying to obstruct the two Coal Tits in the corkscrew hazel ...

... ineffectively, as these tiny birds are lightning fast at whizzing down to take pine nuts off the railings.

A different Coal Tit in a different corkscrew hazel, the one in the Flower Walk. The pair followed me right along the path.

A Blue Tit in the Rose Garden ate a pine nut it took from my hand. They really enjoy these and savour them bit by bit, unlike insects which go down in one gulp.

There were several more in the circle at the far end of the garden ...

... where a Paperwhite Daffodil, Narcissus papyraceus, was putting out many little flowers. The fancy narcissi bred for show come out later than the normal daffodils, but this is a wild species native to the Mediterranean and quite hardy.

Black Swan in mischievous mood

The Black Swan has taken to hanging around the boss Mute Swan and his new mate, retreating when confronted but coming back, and doing his best to be as annoying as possible. First he was at the Vista ...

... and got chased off, under the bridge and on to the Serpentine.

The boss swan's mate remained at the Vista. She has the ring 4DTT -- he is 4DTH, but the order in which swans get ringed is a matter of chance. She is a surprisingly mild-mannered and gentle bird, unlike the boss's late mate 4EFI who was almost as violent as him. No doubt she will get fiercer if the union progresses and they have cygnets.

The boss swan was then on the Serpentine, and the Black Swan came back several times and was shooed again and again.

He went to the middle of the lake and started chasing other swans and flapping and calling, and generally throwing his weight around. The boss seems to tolerate this behaviour up to a point, as long as the Black Swan retreats when threatened -- as he has to, for he would be mauled in a straight fight with the enormous boss.

The proceedings were watched by a young Cormorant on the nesting basket by the Diana reed bed. I haven't yet seen a swan take any interest in this basket, but a Grey Heron is often seen using it as a fishing station.

A pair of Shovellers revolved on the Long Water, the wake of each one stirring up little creatures for them to filter out of the water with the strainers inside their bills. They work in exactly the same was as Blue Whales, but on a slightly smaller scale.

Pigeon Eater and his mate had finished their lunch and were resting on the Dell restaurant roof ...

... while another Lesser Black-Backed Gull ate the little that was left. Pigeon Eater doesn't defend his leftovers, as he knows he can get another pigeon whenever he wants.

A Song Thrush sang on the edge of the leaf yard, answering another on the other side of the lake. They were impossible to film, as the demonstration at the Iranian embassy was louder than ever.

The Robin at the Buck Hill shelter struck a pose as grand as the Monarch of the Glen before flying over to take several pine nuts.

The one in the Rose Garden came out under a bush ...

... with Blue Tits ...

... and both Coal Tits waiting on the twigs above.

The Robin in the Dell was in a bossy mood, standing on the railings and shooing away the tits.

One of the Coal Tits had to retreat to the yew tree on the corner, but it still managed to fly down to the railings for a few pine nuts. They may be tiny but they are good at devising strategies for getting fed.

A premature daffodil has come out in the Rose Garden.