Tuesday 3 June 2014

The Tawny Owlets were shifting about restlessly in the lime tree. Here one of them stretches out an already lethal foot.


Neither of their parents was in sight.

The bushes were full of families of tits. Here a young Great Tit vibrates its wings and calls for food ...


... and is promptly given a pine nut fetched from my hand.


The Blue Tit parents are looking rather scruffy, especially when compared with the suave and slightly fluffy look of their young.


A Grey Heron near the Henry Moore sculpture also had food on its mind.


I haven't seen one take a young rabbit, but I have often seen it hunting along the railings, hoping to grab one.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes were waving bits of weed at each other, not doing the proper dance but certainly thinking of nesting.


They will have to wait until this year's young fish have reached an adequate size before they can begin. Usually the first sign for a human observer is when you can see the fish at the edge of the water near Peter Pan; these are visible when about an inch long. A little later you can see movement in one of the wire baskets near the bridge.

The Greylag Geese have started moulting their flight feathers, and the shore of the Serpentine is already littered with the fallout.


The Mute Swan are also moulting, though they don't have as strict a schedule as the Greylags, which get the whole process done within the month of June. The Canada Geese moult a little later. The geese can take refuge in the water while unable to fly, but when they come out to graze they are in serious danger from thoughtless dog owners who let their pets run around on the edge of the lake.

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