Tuesday 29 April 2014

The female Little Owl wanted to come out of her hole to sunbathe. She looked out, saw me, and ducked back in again.


No doubt she emerged when I had gone away.

The Tawny Owl was in his usual tree, but on the north side and mostly masked by leaves.


He had been calling earlier.

The young Grey Heron is now so bold as to be positively bumptious. He went down the side of the Serpentine begging for food from everyone who looked a likely prospect, before settling on the roof ridge of one of the small boathouses. Just as I was raising my camera to take a picture, he was knocked off by an angry crow, a shot I regretted missing. But then something more remarkable happened. He flew into the Dell restaurant and stood on a table next to one where a girl was having lunch. When she didn't give him any food, he took off straight over her head, brushing her as he passed and giving her a severe fright.


Here are two young Robins from the nest in the holly tree next to the Queen Caroline memorial. Their parent has just given one a piece of bread taken from a plate in the Dell restaurant. Naturally the other one wants some food too.


Song Thrushes bathe with great vigour. This one plunged head first into a puddle in the Flower Walk, surrounded by fallen azalea petals.


Over the last few years pike have occasionally been seen in the Serpentine and Long Water. Mateusz Kociński, who works at Bluebird Boats, photographed a dead one floating near the island ...


... and a live one lurking beside the boat hire platform.


This is bad news for the Moorhens nesting here. Just as they made themselves safe from the gulls overhead, a new predator appeared below.

No comments:

Post a Comment