A female Little Owl called in a lime tree by the Ranger's Cottage in Hyde Park.
This is where the parents of the two young owls more recently seen in Hyde Park spent last winter, though the young ones appeared in a broken horse chestnut 50 yards to the east and are still seen here by the gardeners when they come in at 6 am.
The magnolia in the Flower Walk is now in bloom, and hosting a Great Tit ...
... a Coal Tit ...
..., and a Robin.
The Blue Tits preferred a cherry ...
... and the wintersweeet bush at the Queen's Gate Crossing.
A Jay was ruffled by the breeze at the northwest corner of the bridge.
On the ground below a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee was climbing on roots at the edge of the railings. There are some flowers here for it so it's not clear what it was doing, but it seemed active and healthy. Could it have been a young queen looking for a nest site?
Pigeon Eater's mate was back with him on the Dell restaurant roof. This picture gives a good view of the difference in head shape between males and females. He's on the right, and his skull is noticeably longer and flatter.
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The dominant Black-Headed Gull at the halfway point of the Serpentine, Blue 2331,is getting the dark head feathers of his breeding plumage.
A pair of Coots were making a nest in the reed bed under the Italian Garden. They can make good nests out of either reeds or twigs, and happily use whatever is closest to hand.
The Mute Swan pair 4FYY and 4FUF were guarding their nest site in the reeds east of the Lido. They seem to be securely in possession now but they haven't started nesting.
A pair of Canada Geese came under the willow tree at the bridge to eat the green shoots, which are also much liked by swans.
The two pairs of Egyptian Geese by the Serpentine Gallery often have territorial disputes, mostly just shouting at each other but today a furious fight broke out between the two males.
The Egyptian mother on the south side of the Serpentine hurried her seven goslings to the water as a dog passed. It was only an elderly pug but they are right to be careful.
There are more Egyptian goslings at the Round Pond, one pair with four ...
... and another with three.
Three Shelducks were seen this morning flying over the Round Pond. They didn't land. These are very rare vistors to the park, and the only record I have dates from 1943.
Still seven. She deserves a mother of the year award, whatever happens from this point onwards. Who'd have thought we'd have Pigeon Eater to thank collaterally for this.
ReplyDeleteI think the Little Owl was calling to you. She's calling so loud it's almost she wanted to draw attention to herself.
Tinúviel
The Little Owl was already calling while I was quite far off. So I charged over at full tilt and managed to film her before she stopped, which she did exactly at the end of this video. A bit of luck.
DeleteGood job on the Little Owl call video, quite rare to get that.
ReplyDeleteJays always have this look about them like they are overly happy, with their beak smile line and black cheek mark, and the wide open eye. As if something has just kicked in.
Can't beat a good old scrap and having a front view. It's like being back at school days. FIGHT!!!
Sean
Ralph I can't see enough of the Magnolia to be sure of its ID but it is definitely not M. stellata, which is a deciduous species which flowers before the leaves appear. The leaves resemble M. grandiflora but I'm not convinced it is that from these shots.
ReplyDeleteThere is an undisputed grandiflora elsewhere, far bigger in scale than this one.
DeleteThe flowers don't look right for M. grandiflora but couldn't tell the scale from the photos but not M. stellata for sure. Maybe a horticultural hybrid? Certainly coming up to peak Magnolia flowering time.
ReplyDeleteBeyond my feeble powers to distinguish. The amended text now just says 'magnolia'.
Delete