Vanishing parakeets

The number of Rose-Ringed Parakeets has fallen recently. Today and yesterday the only ones I saw were a pair in the Dell. It seems odd not to have a constant background noise of their shrieking. Have they left to breed outside the park?

However, these have been enough of a nuisance to the usual inhabitants of the corkscrew hazel. The aggressive Robin was hanging on, but had to stay on the other side of the bush.

The male Robin at Mount Gate came out of his dogwood bush to take three pine nuts, then went back to sing.

The two Coal Tits here are thinking about coming to my hand, but haven't quite plucked up courage yet. They probably will in the next few days, and will be pleased to find that they can get more food more easily.

There's no problem for the Coal Tit in the cedar north of the Rose Garden, which follows me around the garden taking one pine nut after another and hiding them in cracks in the bark for later eating.

There's quite a flock of Blue Tits here, probably more than anywhere else in the park.

The male Chaffinch waited in a tree.

Starlings are gathering on and around the Buck Hill shelter, where they will soon start nesting in the eaves.

There's usually a Jay behind the Albert Memorial eager for peanuts.

Jackdaws ignored the drizzle and came out all along the Serpentine Road.

The Grey Herons at the west end of the island are constantly looking into the bottom of the nest.

The nest on the right of this picture is the top one where there are certainly chicks, which I heard yesterday. The partner of the parent in the nest stood in a nest below and to the left. It seems odd that there are so many nests so close togther here, but they give plenty of standing room.

There is now almost always a heron in the nest to the west of here and slightly lower. I haven't seen a pair here. The nest can be seen quite well from across the lake, but this view doesn't reveal anything.

A Mute Swan visited the nest basket east of the Lido but left after a few minutes. So far no swans show any sign of settling here.

The boss swan and has mate were at the Vista, not troubled by the warning sign.

A pair of Egyptian Geese smartened up their feathers by one of the Serpentine boathouses.

Female Common Pochards have a quiet brown and grey colour scheme. Like other members of the genus Aythya, they don't have the speckled patterns of the larger female ducks.

The two Shoveller drakes on the Serpentine are staying together. They like to be in twos even if these aren't pairs, as then they can revolve together to feed more productively as the wake of one brings up small water creatures for the other.