Greenfinches in a hawthorn north of Peter Pan were eating blossom buds full of sweet nectar.
A Blackbird was singing by Magazine Gate, but unhelpfully stopped as soon as I began filming him.
One of the Coal Tits in the Dell posed in the big yew tree. They know that if they let themselves be photographed they'll get pine nuts.
The Robin pair came out together at Mount Gate.
A Jay by the Italian Garden was waiting for a peanut.
A male Pied Wagtail hunted midges from a post at Peter Pan. This is probably the one more often seen on the posts at the bridge.
The male Peregrine was by himself on the barracks tower.
Pigeon Eater hadn't caught a pigeon to share with his mate for a few hours, so she contented herself with a light between-meals snack of midges flying over the water.
The Coots have doggedly rebuilt their nest under the Lido restaurant balcony which was washed away by the recent strong wind, and were hopefully mating.
However, while the pair were away gathering twigs a Herring Gull arrived and inspected the nest. This is a very dangerous place for a nest, right in the middle of Pigeon Eater's territory.
There's a new nest on a fallen Lombardy poplar by the Vista. Anywhere one can be built the Coots will be at work.
The Black Swan had ventured on to the Long Water, and was being expelled by the male Mute Swan of the pair nesting on the gravel, 4HDW. He was refusing to leave and having to be shoved my main force all the way to the bridge.
His girlfriend 4GIQ was sitting obediently on the nest he had made for her. It's a very large nest: perhaps size matters to female swans.
This year the pair on the Serpentine island have chosen a visible place to nest and we shall be able to watch events.
A pair of Egyptians with eight new goslings were guarding them closely as they passed the Triangle to go under the bridge.
Buff-Tailed Bumblebees have started to appear in the Rose Garden. One was feeding on a cercis.
There are also plenty of Honeybees out. Here is one on a polyanthus in the herbaceous border.
Usually the patch of green alkanet at the top of the stairs by Temple Gate attracts Early Bumblebees, but I haven't seen any there this year -- just the ubiquitous Hairy-Footed Flower Bees.
Lovely to see the Bumblebees going about their business. Today I had a chat with a beekeeper; he said prospector bees are now ready to go out and that will signal to the queen that she can begin to lay eggs. He spoke of his bees with more fondness than many human parents will of their offspring.
ReplyDeleteI think the Coot may have an opinion on the structure and size of the nest built by the Black Swan. It's unfortunate that it can't convey its opinion to us. I'm sure it'd be worth a listen. Now I have the mental image of Coots dressed professorially lecturing on architecture. I'm sure their department meetings would be highly entertaining events, if you like contact sports.
Tinúviel
I'm enormously fond of Buff-Tailed Bumblebees, and it's very pleasing so see them back. Beekepers are full of ancient lore, and I wonder how right much of it is. There is a tradition that if anything important happens in the human family, a birth, a marriage, a death, it is essential to tell the bees about it to keep their world in harmony with that of their keepers.
DeleteI like the idea of a Coot board meeting. 'Arising out of that reply ...' Crash, scrabble, claw, yell.