The Little Grebe family had gone back to the reeds on the east side of the Long Water. A parent was feeding one of the chicks ...
... while the other three stayed at the edge.
A Great Crested Grebe chick on the Serpentine was persecuting its mother, but she was busy preening and ignored it for the time being. The chicks get all the fish they need, but that doesn't keep them quiet for long.
At least the single chick from the Dell restaurant was having a rest.
The chicks on the Long Water were hidden under the poplar tree, but I saw a parent going up the lake with a fish, and in the distance you could see a chick coming out of cover to take it.
A pair of Coots preened on the chain by the bridge. They have tried to build a nest here several times, but nothing has ever come of it.
In 2004 a pair of Great Crested Grebes did manage to nest on this chain, and even to raise five chicks. But they were lucky enough to do it in a spell of calm weather. If there are any waves a nest here gets washed away, and with the new boat people zooming around irresponsibly in powerboats and raising a huge wash there isn't a chance. The Coot nest on the chain on the Long Water stays in place because it's more sheltered there.
One of the two Mute cygnets on the Serpentine has been ill and weak in the past few days, and was nearly taken into care by the bird rescue group. But they decided it was better off left to recover by itself, and today both of the young ones were fine and active. We think it may have had a slight attack of botulism, but waterfowl have a high resistance to the toxin. The bacterium Clostridium botulinum produces it in anaerobic conditions in mud, and it is released by birds dabbling on the lake floor.
However, one of the Egyptian Geese in the Italian Garden has been looking droopy for a while, and the rescuers are keeping an eye on it. These birds have a health service that humans can only envy.
The water in the lake under the Italian Garden is absolutely septic and smelly, with dead algae and a heavy growth of blue-green cyanobacteria. Luckily the Egyptians stay in the pools, which are quite clean.
The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery looked down from the big plane tree.
Both Peregrines were on the tower, but flew away before I could get round to them. I also missed the Hobbies.
A Jackdaw waited for a peanut on a block of new stone inserted into the parapet of the bridge during the recent repairs. How much more attractive tbe creamy Bath limestone is than the dead white Portland stone that began to be used in the mid-19th century. It weathers to a soft pale brown while Portland stone goes a cold grey.
'When the crow is silent, it is well. But when it speaks, so it shall be.'
— Irish proverb.
Starlings at the Dell restaurant leapt into the air to catch thrown crumbs. The restuarant staff absolutely hate people feeding them, but who can resist these lively birds?
This is the second Robin in the Flower Walk which is coming to my hand for pine nuts. It's much smarter than the tatty original one.
There were also several Blue Tits.
A Coal Tit appeared in the yew tree at the southeast corner of the Dell. This is the one with little white flecks above both eyes that I think is the female of the pair.
A Common Carder bee browsed on a lantana in the Rose Garden.
When I saw this grey bee on a patch of stonecrop I thought it must be an Ashy Mining Bee, but these appear in early summer and are over now. In fact it's a completely bleached Common Carder, seemingly quite old from the tattered condition of its wings.
These bees really do vary a lot in colour, through the pale brown of the bee in the first picture to the bright ginger of the one shown yesterday in an autumn crocus. Do they fade with time, or is it natural variation?
Grok to the rescue:
ReplyDelete"It’s mainly due to aging (wear and sun-bleaching) plus natural variation; it’s not exactly “gray hair” like in humans, but the effect is similar.
Why it looks so gray/whitish
Wear and fading with age/exposure*: Young bumblebees have brighter ginger, brown-orange, or straw-colored fur. Over time (especially in workers and males that forage a lot outdoors), the sun bleaches the hairs and rubbing against plants and the nest wears them down. The color turns paler—beige, straw, grayish, or nearly whitish. Specialist sources on *B. pascuorum note this explicitly: old or faded individuals can appear whitish, and the ginger on the thorax fades to buff or straw by late season.
Natural variation**: This species is highly variable. There are paler forms, differences between subspecies/regions, and the abdomen can have more or fewer mixed black hairs (giving a “grizzled” or mottled look). Some populations or individuals start out lighter. The sides of the thorax are often cream or grayish to begin with.
It’s not a rare mutation or a permanently abnormal color—this is common in mid- to late-season individuals. Fresh spring carder bees look much more orange/ginger.
In short: yes, it’s “old/worn” (or at least has spent a lot of time exposed), combined with the species’ natural variation. It’s very common to see them looking like this on sedum late in the season. Nice photo!"
Tinúviel
P.S.: The picture is astonishingly gorgeous. Even a machine was moved to say it.
Many thanks for sorting that out, and I suppose thanks to Grok if you can thank a mechanism. And yes, I have to admit that it is quite a pretty picture, but I think that Grok put in the compliment because it had been programmed to make liitle gestures like that to make it appear more human.
DeleteAgree your bee is a faded Common Carder Bumblebee, an aged feature.
ReplyDeleteGood to bump into you again yesterday & grateful for the Peregrine. I didn't see the single Hobby again so was unable to show it to Melanie.
In addition to the 5 or 6 Shoveler I told you about I also found two female Teal. They weren't always easy to spot but from the viewpoint with the posts they were opposite feeding close to the bank by the dead tree often disappearing behind some of the logs in the water.
Thanks. I will look for the Teal tomorrow. They are the only minority ducks that seem to appear now, as other passers by now seem to go to one of the new reserves along the Thames. Twenty years ago we used to get Garganey, Pintail, Goldeneye and all sorts.
DeleteI thin k most of those duck have generally declined in the London area, perhaps some due to climate change. I think Rainham is the only reliable site for Pintail now in the winter. Goldeneye are less frequent & largely on the larger reservoirs-I often see 20+ at Staines.
ReplyDeleteTeal are quite common along the Thames itself further out of London. I regularly count 100+ on my WeBS patch between Putney & Barnes Bridges as well as plenty further west up to Richmond.
Garganey is unique amongst our ducks being a summer visitor & never common.
Thank you. This puts it in perspective, though I would be inclined to assign more importance to urban development than to 'climate change' which is only very slowly edging up to the next solar maximum -- we might match the Roman and medieval warm periods around 2100 but no one really knows.
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