Monday 9 June 2014

The Coots nesting in the small boathouse have two chicks, or possibly even three if the small red blob under the mother's left wing is the head of one. I only saw this when I copied the photograph off the camera, which sees much better in that dark corner than the human eye.


The Tawny Owls were unfindable again today. I was told that they had been heard in the row of four horse chestnut trees between the path and the nest tree, and had a good look around but couldn't see them.

While I was there I heard a rather harsh regular chirping sound. Could it be a House Sparrow, now a great rarity in central London? No, it wasn't, it was a female Chaffinch, a lovely bird but very common.


The Little Owl was on his usual branch.


I thought I could hear an owlet calling from the tree, but it stopped before I could be sure.

The Mute Swans with two very young cygnets at the east end of the Serpentine are giving the geese a hard time when they get too close to their babies. This is their mother clearing a path through the crowd.


Their father was on the shore, being equally aggressive.

The House Martins are dashing around the embassies in Knightsbridge. In this picture you can see the mud nest on top of the plaster rose in the bottom left corner. The entrance to the nest at at the top left corner.


First the female bird has to be fed while she is sitting on her eggs, then the chicks have to be fed, so the period of constant visiting is quite long.

This pair of Common Damselflies were in the weeds at the southwest corner of the bridge, where there is a little semicircular viewing area at the edge of the path. The male is the blue one.

1 comment:

  1. That is a great capture of the detail and color on the damselflies. Just amazing what you can with that camera and lens. Hey, do you think that the people in charge of the boathouse would be willing to install a little ramp for the new Coot family, just in case one falls in the water too soon and needs a ramp to get out? I saw a ramp in the Kensington Gardens pond...so maybe it is a good idea?

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