A Grey Heron was definitely sitting in the nest at the west end of the Serpentine island. It was only visible from one place, screened by branches.
The heron in the upper nest was still there, even harder to see. It seems to be safe to say that we now have two nests on the go, later than in the last breeding season which started five weeks earlier.
The boss Mute Swan was on the Long Water near the bridge, keeping an eye out for intruders -- though these would have to fly in, as the pontoon people haven't sorted out the gap under the bridge. Two swans did fly over the bridge from the Serpentine, but they kept going and turned left up the Vista to go to the Round Pond.
His mate was in her usual area near the Italian Garden.
On the Serpentine side of the bridge by the Triangle the Black Swan had chased another on to the path and was following her along. She turned out to the 4FUF, who had been on the Long Water earlier. Both of these had been evicted by the boss.
The Egyptian Goose near the boat hire building was sheltering goslings, but they are down to four now as the ruthless predation continues
A Song Thrush in a treetop by the allotment sang against a background of traffic noise from the West Carriage Drive.
Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits and a Chaffinch thronged trees in the Rose Garden clamouring for pine nuts.
A Coal Tit perched in the cercis bush.
The tits were even more insistent in a hazel bush in the Flower Walk ...
... and the Coal Tit pair followed me for the whole length of the path. Here is one in the top of the corkscrew hazel bush.
Several Blue Tits were waiting at Mount Gate ...
... and in a budding camellia behind the Albert Memorial.
Long-Tailed Tits bounced through the bushes beside the Lido restaurant.
The Robin of the day is the one at the southwest corner of the bridge.
I looked for Redwings on the Parade Ground and saw some flashes of red under a distant tree, but it turned out to be a pair of Robins.
A Carrion Crow investigated a puddle left by last night's rain, and found a small larva.
Work on the bridge has got to the stage of repairing the broken parapet, and a strong gantry has been erected to lift heavy stones. It has taken 25 months to reach this point.
They look like so many tiny fruits in that tree, if fruit could fly and chirp, that is.
ReplyDeleteLovely assortment of pictures of small birds posing exceedingly prettily against gorgeous backgrounds. I won't be convinced that they don't know how charming they are and they don't use that knowledge for their benefit.
Tinúviel
I think that at least come of the birds know that if they hold still for a while they will get a pine nut all the sooner. That ideas has not communicated itself to the Coal Tits, though, which whizz around non-stop and are seriously hard to photograph. Or, of course, to Long-Tailed Tits, which ignore humans entirely.
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