Monday 6 July 2015

The Reed Warblers in the reed bed near the bridge were dashing around the nearby trees catching insects for their young. Here one of them returns to the reeds with a caterpillar.


And here are two of the young birds waiting to be fed.


It's not clear how many young there are, but you can hear begging calls from several parts of the reed bed.

There is a Robin family in the neighbouring oak tree. Here is one of the young ones.


The Canada Geese who have moved on to the Long Water have slightly older goslings than the ones that nested on the island.


Both families were cruising around peacefully within a few feet of each other. Canadas are gregarious birds, and sometimes even look after each other's goslings.

The Mute Swans with two cygnets had brought them to the Lido restaurant to tout for food from the people at the tables.


Any goose or duck that got near the cygnets was chased away.

The Great Crested Grebes' nest in the reed bed on the Long Water opposite Peter Pan seems finally to be permanently occupied.


One of the birds came up to the Italian Garden to fish under the fountain. Here it is performing its neat dive: head into the water, a powerful kick, and it's down with barely a splash.


The grebes' nest on the Serpentine island is also still going, though from the shore you can only get occasional glimpses of the sitting bird's head.

Black-Headed Gulls have now arrived in serious numbers, and there were a dozen on the posts by Peter Pan. Here one of them gets pushed off by a Herring Gull.


The Red Crested Pochard drakes are in mid-moult and looking very tatty. But the females are simply replacing their feathers with new ones the same colour and look as smart as ever.

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