A young Blue Tit in a tree north of Peter Pan shuffled impatiently while waiting for a parent to bring food.
There were a lot of Greenfinches in the trees around. A male sang on a holly twig ...
... and a female perched in a catalpa. Young ones could be heard calling, but none were visible through the leaves.
A Wood Pigeon ate pansies in a border in the Rose Garden. Pansies are actually quite palatable in salads for humans, and so are nasturtiums.
The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery looked down from the lime tree.
One of the young Grey Wagtails was looking for insects in the scrubby patch between the Lido swimming area and the restaurant.
A pair of Lesser Black-Backed Gulls on the boat hire platform complained as a rival landed next to them.
A Great Crested Grebe poked around the edge of the Coots' nest by the bridge. There are various reasons why they do this: to find edible water creatures lurking in the nest, and to steal twigs for their own nest; but mainly to annoy the Coot.
There are more Coot chicks in the reeds under the Italian Garden, but I could only see two. The nest is on the other side from the one with four older chicks.
The Mute Swan family were at the Dell restaurant confronting a Magpie.
The Black Swan was showing off, chasing every other swan within sight including this harmless female.
The six Egyptian Goose teenagers and their mother are often seen with the Canada family on the grass east of the Lido. In an area infested with dogs, it helps to have more lookouts.
The two young Egyptians by the Dell restaurant have got through the most dangerous period, and are now quite large.
The Mandarin and her two ducklings came ashore at the Vista.
A female Brimstone butterfly landed on the ground near Queen's Gate and lay down on her side, an odd position but there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her. When I let my shadow fall on her she instantly got up and flew away.
There were two very bright coloured bees: an Early Bumblebee on the green alkanet by Temple Gate ...
... and a Common Carder on a patch of catmint by the Diana fountain.
A Yellow-Legged Mining Bee browsed on the wallflowers in the Rose Garden.
Fie, Grebe. Being as mild-mannered and gentle as you are, why should you have such fun annoying the Coot.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen an Early Bumblebee (what a name! it makes one wonder if there are tardy bumblebees), and i see in the wiki that they're rare in the Iberian peninsula. Alas.
Tinúviel
There is a deep-seated enmity between grebes and Coots, just as there is between crows and herons. It may be transmitted culturally, as it seems unlikely to be hard-wired.
DeleteWe don't have all that many Early Bumblebees and I usually see them in only one place, the clump of green alkanet just down the path from Temple Gate. This is a wild clump of plants and the gardeners keep cutting it down, but luckily it it grows back very fast. Considering all the fashionable hooha about the vital importance of invertebrates (true as it is), the park destroys their habitats with gay abandon. However, their ignorant devastation is mitigated by their inefficiency.
"Their ignorant devastation is mitigated by their inefficiency." I'm gonna put that on a t-shirt.
DeleteTinúviel
The park management is a microcosm of the government.
Delete