Sunday 2 February 2014

The male Egyptian Goose of the pair on the Vista has been alone for several days now. Here he is preening himself.


This probably means that his mate is on her nest in a nearby tree. But these are the pair who are hopeless parents, and it seems unlikely that any young will survive for more than a couple of days. After this, their parents will simply breed again; one year they had three broods,all lost within two days of hatching.

I paid a short visit to Regent's Park. An Egyptian Goose was squatting in one of last year's Grey Heron nests. It will have a nasty surprise if the heron decides it wants the nest.

The herons on the Serpentine island seem to have lost their enthusiasm for nesting, at least for now. Yesterday there was one bird on one of the three active nests; today there were none.

Here is one of the Coal Tits from the leaf yard striking a Monarch of the Glen pose on a dead branch.


This proud bird weighs less than a heaped teaspoonful of sugar.

The male Tawny Owl woke up for just long enough to look at us with one eye, then went back to sleep.


One of the Little Grebes was poking around in the reeds near the Italian Garden.


There were a lot of Pied Wagtails running around on the dead grass on the Parade Ground. Perhaps the arid landscape makes insects easy to see.


The earthworms have certainly survived the destruction of the turf laid at huge expense a year ago. This one, however, did not survive the visit of a Mistle Thrush.

2 comments:

  1. Ralph,
    Thank you so much for your previous info on the location of the Tawny Owl. I went to see him this morning and he didn't disappoint...my first wild Owl and he posed so nicely. Thank you again and this is a great blog.
    Melissa

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    1. He is a glorious bird, isn't he? The real excitement will begin in mid-March when we hope to see owlets.

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