A male Blackcap ...
... and a female were in a scrubby patch near the Italian Garden ...
... and so were a male Chaffinch ...
... and his mate.
A male Greenfinch was singing in a treetop ...
... but this isn't his mate, as she was on the other side of the Long Water.
Singles included a Dunnock, which Ahmet Amerikali found in the hawthorn north of Peter Pan ...
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... a Jay just up the path ...
... a male Great Spotted Woodpecker in a lime on the other side ...
... and a Jackdaw a few yards away.
A Chiffchaff behind the Lido paused from picking seeds out of alder fruit to have a song. Typically, it hopped around between phrases, making it hard to flim.
A Coal Tit was also here, feeding on the catkins of a black poplar. Most Coal Tits have a two-note song, but this has three.
A Blue Tit waited in a berberis at Mount Gate.
A pair of Mandarins preened on a rock in the little stream in the Dell.
The male Mute Swan at the Lido restaurant was preening on his nest, waiting for his mate to be ready.
The Canada Goose on the swans' nesting island in the Long Water was still holding her precarious nest.
A fox wandered through the grass on the west side of the lake.
A beetle crossed the path at the Vista. This is a Black Clock Beetle, Pterostichus madidus, also called a Rain Beetle, and there is a belief that if you kill one this makes it rain. Luckily it crossed to the other side unharmed.
I presume the Canada Geese had eggs already for her to have been sitting like that when the swan attacked, but I didn't pick out any a
ReplyDelete...any apparent destruction of them by him. Do we take it they (substantially) survived the onslaught for her to resume sitting like that so soon? Jim
ReplyDeleteIt must be so, though I have no direct evidence as I haven't seen the female Canada standing up. The fact that she sits so persistently indicates that she does have intact eggs.
DeleteI always thought Canadas in the park were much milder than their Canadian brethren. It turns out they're not as aggressive but have the same grit.
DeleteTinúviel
Americans seem terrified of their Canadas, but I've never been sure whether these really are more aggressive of whether the Americans are being feeble.
DeleteI swear to God, that Chiffchaff has a national accent! Ours sing differently, and I'm not imagining things.
ReplyDeleteThe video of the Coal Tit shows how difficult it is to take good pictures of any of them. They're restless and always on the move, so it's really a merit to take a good picture of them, and it goes for double when it's a daily thing.
Tinúviel
It has been remarked on that Chiffchaffs have a regional accent. Birdwatchers here get very excited when a Caucasian or Siberian Chiffchaff turns up singing its different song.
DeleteCould you please clarify what is called a "Blackcap" there across the Pond? Obviously it is not a Black Capped Chickadee!
ReplyDeleteIt's a kind of warbler, Sylvia atricapilla.
DeleteThank you!
ReplyDelete