A Whitethroat sang in the bramble patch down the hill from the Queen's Temple. I couldn't get any closer as the shy bird rushed into cover.
On a second visit it couldn't be seen at all though it was still singing, but there was a glimpse of a Greenfinch preening in a holly tree.
The leaf yard is being remade with heavy machinery, but there was just enough time between the enormous bangs and crashes to hear a Blackbird singing in a tree on the edge.
A Jay landed beside the path to demand a peanut.
The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in a place where it was impossible to get a good view. On a return visit he had gone even deeper into the leaves.
A Grey Heron was fishing in a pool in the Italian Garden, standing on a large bundle of straw which is supposed to suppress the growth of algae. It doesn't seem to work.
Another sunbathed with wings akimbo on the nesting raft west of the Lido. This raft has never been visited by a swan and is intact, but the swans have utterly wrecked the other two.
There is a second Great Crested Grebe nest at the island. It has at least three eggs, which a parent was turning to keep them evenly warmed while the other occasionally brought strands of algae.
The first nest is still a going concern, but I haven't been able to see how many eggs there are in it.
The Coot nesting at the Dell restaurant still has two chicks, hard to see in the shadows under the balcony.
The single surviving Coot chick south of Peter Pan was able to return to the nest, as the heron that was using it as a fishing platform has moved on.
The Black Swan was harassing the pair of Coots by the nesting raft where his Mute mate is sitting.
The Canada Geese with three goslings took them to feed on the grassy bank at the back.
Three Egyptian goslings sprawled awkardly by the boat hire platform.
The Mandarin was ashore with her two ducklings at the Vista.
The rugosa roses in the Rose Garden are still blooming, delighting the Buff-Tailed Bumblebees which revolved in them for minutes at a time. The smell of the roses, which are of a different species (Rosa rugosa) from ordinary garden roses, seems to have the same effect on them as catnip on a cat.
A Honeybee was perfectly content with a pale pink climbing rose on the old tree stump.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a whitethroat in the park. I hope it stays for a while
ReplyDeleteThey've been here for several years, though never common. Usually around the Queen's Temple, once also in the Rose Garden but probably not again now that the park managers have destroyed all the shrubbery.
DeleteWow, a Whitethroat! Congratulations! They're extremely rare to spot.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Bumblebees also dance to signal where the best flowers are. I imagine now a train of Bumblebees doing a country and western-style dance pointing the way to the next Rosa rugosa.
Tinúviel
It seems that only honey bees do the waggle dance. You have to have a large organised colony for that to work, and it isn't suitable for the little encampments of bumblebees. I think these invividually learn good places and stick to them. When you watch a bumblebee you see that it always visits flowers of the same species and even the same colour.
Delete