tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post2668129709039172672..comments2024-03-29T01:41:15.713+00:00Comments on Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park birds: Ralph Hancockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-87757410435661942512022-02-06T08:32:16.753+00:002022-02-06T08:32:16.753+00:00Black-headed Gull 'orange 2V09' was origin...Black-headed Gull 'orange 2V09' was originally ringed with metal-ring EL35626 by Phil Belman beside the Thames at Westminster in February 2019. It was seen at the Italian Fountain in Kensington Gardens later that year (November), before I recaptured him (yes, it's a boy - based on measurements taken at re-capture) in December 2020 and was fitted with its unique colour-ring. These colour-rings make it much easier to identify specific individuals, and generate more re-sightings than metal rings alone (which can take a lot of patience and good optics to read, providing they stay still enough and don't fly off off). 'Orange 2V09' is a regular winter visitor and appears to commute regularly between the Serpentine and the Long Water (as probably do many of the Black-headed Gulls)Bill Haineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01475347861314191193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-74410985419914359672022-02-02T01:06:45.828+00:002022-02-02T01:06:45.828+00:00Herons have a practised method of swallowing prey ...Herons have a practised method of swallowing prey that might bite back: they toss it in midair, turning it, and catch it so that it goes down head first and the dangerous end of the creature is crushed at once.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-39920612253198741762022-02-01T23:48:21.329+00:002022-02-01T23:48:21.329+00:00Even cats will sometimes hesitate before catching ...Even cats will sometimes hesitate before catching a rat. Herons know no fear. Well, I wouldn't eithe if I had their fearsome beak!<br /><br />I have always wondered why Wagtails wag their tails so much. Perhaps it helps them keep their balance with their slight mass and their sudden bouts of speed?TinĂºvielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04794275230697959519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-47953119167389057962022-02-01T03:28:07.092+00:002022-02-01T03:28:07.092+00:00They seem to choose high viewpoints to get a wide ...They seem to choose high viewpoints to get a wide general view. They must have excellent eyesight to spot the tell-tale twitch of the vegetation from that distance.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-35240666354535180142022-01-31T22:48:03.690+00:002022-01-31T22:48:03.690+00:00A couple of years ago I was very surprised to see ...A couple of years ago I was very surprised to see a grey heron looking out from the edge of a second floor balcony near my home a couple of streets away from Kensington Gardens, particularly as the swimming pools here are two storeys underground. But then Ralph informed me it was probably looking for rats. "Never more than 50 feet away..."Abigailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16115795598878767279noreply@blogger.com