It was a drizzly day with outbreaks of heavier rain. Visitors sheltered in the Italian Garden loggia.
Thrushes welcome rain, which brings up worms. A Song Thrush near the leaf yard was singing cheerfully in a treetop.
A tall conifer on the south side of the Flower Walk near the Queen's Gate crossing -- I'm not sure whether it's a Western Red Cedar or a Lawson's Cypress -- gives good shelter to small birds. A Coal Tit ...
... and a Blue Tit emerged to collect pine nuts.
Another Blue Tit ...
... and a Great Tit were waiting in a camellia bush behind the Albert Memorial.
This isn't one of the regular Robins. It perched on a stem in the Flower Walk before coming down to pick up some pine nuts from the ground.
A Jay by the Henry Moore sculpture was expecting a peanut.
The female Pied Wagtail skittered about near the boathouses.
Pigeon Eater has been very close to his mate for several days. It seems much too early for them to start breeding but everything is running early this year, started by the warm autumn and unstoppable in spite of recent cold weather.
The Grey Heron sitting in the nest at the west end of the island got up to turn the eggs.
A high nest towards the west end is receiving a lot of attention at the moment. This isn't the one with the chicks in it. Those could be heard too.
A Great Crested Grebe at the east end of the Serpentine called to its mate.
The boss Mute Swan and his new mate were waiting at the Vista to see if anyone would feed them, but on a rainy day there were few people. They took advantage of damp feathers to have a thorough preen. In the background you can hear the Song Thrush shown in the video above.
Swans fed on the grassy bank at the back of the Lido swimming area.
Shovellers were scooping busily on the Long Water.
The immature drake on the Serpentine never joins them, and perhaps doesn't know they are there. He has already got a green head but will have to wait till next year for the rest of his finery.
Where are those visitors from, Narnia!?
ReplyDeleteThe young Shoveller lad is most likely intimated by the bigger boys.
Sean
*Intimidated* bloody autocorrection ey. Eeeuyyy
DeleteHave you ever tried to feed the Boss? I know feeding mute swans isn't advisable because they bite, but I bet he'd pose for a great picture in gratitude. Or rather we'd get a close up of his gaping maw, more like.
ReplyDeleteLovely Song Thrush. I wish I could hear them more often.
Tinúviel
No. Too many people feed him unhealthy bread when he should be eating grass and algae and snails. And I don't want to encourage his mendicant behaviour. As for gratitude, birds simply don't do this.
DeleteI have a tale about birds and gratitude. Once, near the end of a day of settled snow, having seen two blackbirds rummaging about frantically I put some fruit cake out on a ledge in my garden, then seeing it left alone I went back out and whistled till the hen bird appeared, broke up some of the cake and retreated, pointing at it while staring at the bird, and just glimpsed it and the male eagerly tucking in. About 15 minutes after, the hen landed on the sill of the upstairs window directly by where I was sitting inside with the light on, and paused, eyeing me for a few seconds before flying off. The latter had never occurred previously, nor has since. Jim
DeleteBut I can't help wondering whether she came to ask 'Please sir, may I have some more cake?' I don't think birds understand human pointing. If I want to attract a bird's attention to something I have to go over and pick it up and wave it about. They do, however, watch your face and understand the direction you are looking in -- though, because they have immobile eyes, they are fooled by sideling glances.
DeleteI put out much more than two blackbirds could have eaten. I had held some of the cake up in front of the bird, so that probably sufficed. I can't entirely rule out that some larger creature had taken possession of it all after I went in (though the area seemed pretty deserted), but I think the hen blackbird would have been more persistent if it/she were begging me to do something further there and then. Jim
DeleteThank you. Interesting.
Delete