Thursday 9 April 2015

A family of Egyptian Geese carelessly strayed near the gap in the reeds near the Diana fountain where a pair of Mute Swans are nesting. The male swan charged out and attacked them furiously, ramming the male Egyptian into the netting ...


... and then jumping on him and trying to drown him. He managed to escape and fly off.


The female Egyptian fled and her young were scattered over a wide area. But the family managed to reunite and were none the worse for their fright, though I think they will keep away from swans in future.


There are in fact two broods of Egyptians on the Serpentine, which I didn't realise until today. This family stays near the Lido and has seven young. The other is on the north shore nearer the bridge, and has six.

Every year at least one pair of Coots tries to build a nest in a hopeless place on the edge of the Serpentine, completely in the open and exposed to gulls, dogs and humans. Here is this year's effort. It will not last long.


The Scaup was at the east end of the Serpentine again, busily diving near the reed rafts.


The pair of Cetti's Warblers on the west side of the Long Water are now ranging all along the enclosure between the bridge and the Vista, and you can occasionally see them flying from bush to bush. I thought I had got a picture of one in the thicket, but disappointingly on closer examination it turned out to be a Wren.


Never mind, they are becoming less shy and more visible, and it's only a matter of time before someone gets a good picture.

One of the Long-Tailed Tits nesting near the Orangery was picking up feathers under the bushes to make a comfortable lining.


The male Little Owl was in the same place as yesterday and the day before. He looked at me calmly but didn't come out of the hole.


There was a piece of red apple mysteriously perched on a branch near Peter Pan. It seemed impossible that anyone could have thrown it there and that it could have lodged on the branch. The mystery was solved when a squirrel turned up and started eating it, having clearly left it on the branch after it had had the first half.

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