Friday 31 May 2013

There are all kinds of young birds all over the park. The Mute Swans at the Italian Garden were taking their four cygnets around the Long Water. The fifth egg is still in the nest, unbroken but it is now clear that it was infertile. However, four cygnets make a decent brood.

The two Greylag broods total nine goslings, again more than usual in the park. Here are six of them, attracting a lot of attention on the shore of the Serpentine, but their father was more concerned about shooing off other geese that any possible threat from humans who were throwing food at the family.


I watched the second pair of Great Crested Grebes for a while, but could only see one chick's head, and I think there is only one. They remain out in the open at the northwest corner of the island and are much easier to see than the brood of (probably) three at the other end of the island, which so far have not emerged from the shade of the bushes.

I saw the first young Long-Tailed Tits of the year in the Dell; it was impossible to miss them as there was a large family group making a lot of noise. These gregarious birds share childcare duties, an unusual thing in birds -- Canada Geese do it too. Here one of them loudly demands food.


A similar demand was being made by these two juvenile Pied Wagtails on a post to the east of the Lido.


Both parents were busily catching flies for them. There was an adult Grey Wagtail in the same area collecting a large beakful of flies to take to their nest in the Dell.

And finally, this young Robin was waiting for its parents to bring food in the Leaf Yard.


No Swifts were visible in the park today; maybe they have moved on to wherever it is they nest. However, the resisdent House Martins were busy catching flies over the Serpentine. Some of the Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls have returned to the Serpentine, after being almost totally absent yesterday.

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