Thursday 11 September 2014

The male Little Owl was being pestered by a Magpie, and as I arrived he flew out of his usual chestnut tree to the next one, and sat among the leaves to get some peace.


The Magpie followed him, but eventually gave up. Owls have no friends. Nor, for that matter, do Magpies.

A peculiar white-speckled Greylag Goose has appeared on the Serpentine. It is smaller than the other Greylags, but I don't think it's a hybrid -- just partly leucistic and a bit weedy.


The Great Crested Grebe chicks are old enough to wander around the lake. Even the smallest are reasonably safe from big gulls, thanks to their ability to crash-dive in milliseconds. This one came close to the edge at Peter Pan and started inspecting the posts, possibly for edible insects but maybe out of sheer curiosity.


On another post a Grey Heron was having a good scratch.


In one of the Italian Garden ponds an Egyptian Goose was trying to climb one of the duckboards, which are slippery with algae, and was having a hard time of it.


This white-headed bird is the female of the first pair to arrive on the lake, who have never succeded in raising young despite constant efforts. If they had any at all this year they lost them immediately, because no one saw any.

Here is Kevin the Carrion Crow, whose parents are the well known Charlie and Melissa. He is trying to make me give him a second digestive biscuit by pretending not to notice the first one on the ground underneath the tree.


There are quite a lot of hornets in the park. This one was on the path near the bridge, and was photographed from a respectful distance. You don't want to annoy these fearsome creatures with their terrible sting.

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