The ice is melting fast, and warmer weather and rain should remove the last of it quite soon. A Common Gull played with a chunk on the Serpentine.
Pigeon Eater wasn't around, but he had struck earlier and another Lesser Black-Back was finishing his leftovers on the ice.
The dominant Black-Headed Gull guarded his territory on the landing stage.
A pair of Gadwalls dozed peacefully at the Lido, beaded with raindrops.
The Great Crested Grebes are still iced in at the Vista, but they shouldn't have to wait long till there is enough clear water for them to leave.
The Pied Wagtail was hunting along the edge of the Serpentine by the Dell restaurant, finding the usual little white larvae.
Then she ventured out on to the ice. It's not clear what food she could possibly have been finding here. Maybe she was just exploring, but she spent several minutes running around.
There was a Grey Heron in the nest at the west end of the island. But the pair here seem to have lost interest in breeding.
Another visited the top nest, where there may be a sitting heron but I'm not at all sure about this.
A Wood Pigeon preened on the small lower waterfall in the Dell. They like to bathe in the Dell too, but only in the pool at the top of the upper waterfall. If it tried here it would be washed away, and Wood Pigeons can't take off from water -- unlike Feral Pigeons, which are lighter and more agile.
A pretty pale Feral Pigeon foraged on the edge of the path by the Buck Hill shelter.
A Jackdaw waited for a peanut on one of the cast iron posts at the edge of Rotten Row. These posts are sponsored by donors and bear their names. This one is from Bates the Hatters, an establishment in Jermyn Street which will supply you with an extra tall top hat made of real beaver fur for a mere £695.
Another perched on one of the urns in the Italian Garden.
A Wren emerged for a moment from the undergrowth near Peter Pan.
The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge was having to cope with a storm of hungry Great Tits, but managed to get several pine nuts.
Another waited on a rain-soaked bench in the Rose Garden ...
... where the usual Blue Tits ...
... and Coal Tits came out of the shelter of the bushes to be fed.
It would be funny if the dominant BHG was to chase away another bird and slip on all the iciness, I think this would rock his ego. He's a real trooper the boy! I wonder if he takes some time off at night or he's relentlessly standing his ground, regardless of Foxes roaming the plains. It must be a fruitful place for source of food or he just likes the limelight of center stage.
ReplyDeleteSean
Now I'm picturing that Jackdaw in a tiny top hat.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they know just how decorative they look. Sometimes I think some birds are perfectly aware of the aesthetic impact they have on us and ruthlessly exploit it.
Tinúviel
Sometimes the sculptures (well, objects) the Serpentine Gallery people put in the park have reflective surfaces at ground level. I've seen the crows strutting up and down admiring their reflection. (But I've also seen the much less intelligent Egyptian Geese attacking their reflection as an enemy.)
DeleteA very attractively marked Feral Pigeon, Ralph. I do enjoy the various plumage variations.
ReplyDeleteWe've been very lucky in London we haven't had too much extreme winter compared to other areas.
Yes, few people look at the subtle variations of plumage. These may have been caused by humans amplifying random mutations, but that doesn't make them less interesting.
DeleteLet's hope we get through the rest of the winter without any real extremes.