Wednesday 10 August 2016

The berries on the rowan trees on Buck Hill are now ripe enough to attract Mistle Thrushes.


The Starlings that gather in the holly tree near the Long Water came down to eat blackberries.


The pair of Coal Tits at the southwest corner of the bridge are now so used to being fed that when they see me coming they rush out to the front of the oak tree and call for attention.


The two Little Owlets near the Albert Memorial were calling from a horse chestnut tree. I could only get a picture of one of them.


One of the parents -- hard to tell which from this angle -- was in the same tree, tolerating the racket for now.


The male Little Owl near the leaf yard was out on a branch of the nest tree.


The Greylag gosling that was attacked and injured by a Canada Goose has been rescued from further harassment and is now being looked after in Regent's Park. Perhaps it can be educated to realise that it's a Greylag and not a Canada. The other two goslings of the three are still with the family, and the aggressive Canada -- who is not one of the pair that accidentally adopted them -- was leaving them in peace.

Another brood of young Greylags were trying some leaves from a twig that had been broken off a tree. They all seemed to like them.


Yesterday the dominant male Mute Swan at the west end of the Serpentine attacked the Black Swan and his adopted cygnet, and there was a serious fight. Today he was still cruising around looking fierce, and as he passed the Black Swan stretched a wing protectively over the cygnet.


The Mute Swan went off to attack the grebe family from the Long Water, which had come under the bridge for a bit of fishing.


They were not worried by this, because of course they can dive like lightning, and went on fishing. Here a chick is trying to swallow a dauntingly large fish. It managed in the end.


The Tufted duckling can also dive very fast when danger threatens. It was with its mother in the usual place by the reed bed to the east of the Lido.


In the big bramble patch near the Italian Garden there is a single sunflower, probably the result of someone giving sunflower seeds to the small birds. A bee was very busy on it. Each of the thousands of florets in the centre of this composite flower is a complete flower and needs visiting.

7 comments:

  1. Are the little owls near the Albert memorial still in the same place as a few weeks ago? I couldn't see them yesterday.

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    1. Yes, I found them on Wednesday morning. Best to go to the general area, sit on the convenient fallen tree trunk southwest of the nest tree, and listen for owlets calling.

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  2. The photo of the Starling with a blackberry is so BEAUTIFUL (the colours and patterns in the plumage) and the Coal Tit and Tufted Duckling photos are just ADORABLE!!! Always a treat to see what's happening daily in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park through your wonderful blog, photos and SUPERB commentary.

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  3. What a great photo of the grebe chick trying to swallow that huge fish! After a slow start this year, the grebes have bred very successfully. I'm just back from a holiday on Lake Maggiore where I saw several beautiful grebe families so my next post will include the photos - none with a fish though as my camera skills aren't as good as yours and never will be! Cathy
    https://coquetnaturelover.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. Thanks. Will keep an eye out for the pictures. That's a good shot of the Common Tern on your most recent post.

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    2. Thank you very much. It is so much easier when they aren't moving quite so fast. Unfortunately not many species pose like the herons do!

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