Tuesday 28 August 2012


There was more to hear than to see today: young Blackbirds begging noisily in the shrubberies, the twittering of House Martins hunting for insects high overhead, and the shrill cries and harsh chirps of large flocks of Long-Tailed Tits charging through the trees along the paths. Although Long-Tailed Tits are swift fliers, the flock as a whole moves at about walking pace, so if you walk down a tree-lined path in the same direction as the birds, you stay in their midst for several minutes.

The lake is echoing with the cries of young Great Crested Grebes demanding food from their parents. Although there are only nine of them, they make such a constant noise that it is the dominant sound on the water. The two at the Serpentine island are now almost as big as their parents, and quite capable of catching their own fish, but that does not stop them from pestering their father ...


.... until he gives in and dives to find them something.


A Greylag Goose had turned upside down and was splashing vigorously to wash the parasites out of its feathers.


This picture of what seems to be a tropical rainforest was actually taken from the outflow of the Serpentine looking down the waterfall into the Dell. Even the familiar Grey Heron looks quite exotic in such surroundings.

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