Saturday 25 February 2017

On a very quiet day the only action was a four-way Coot fight on the Long Water.


The Coots nesting at the bridge were repairing the storm damage to their nest.


You have to admire their persistence, but it is quite obvious that if they have any chicks in this exposed spot the gulls will get them at once. There are plenty of suitable bushes for a nest site on the Long Water where they could do much better, but they have chosen this silly place and are stubbornly sticking to it.

A few feet away, a Cormorant caught another perch.


A Greylag finished washing and had a flap to settle its feathers.


Grey ducks on a grey day: a pair of Gadwalls were cruising on the Serpentine.


A Grey Heron flew around the island before settling in the top nest. It was not changing places with a sitting bird, so evidently there are no eggs in this nest yet.


I think that only the bottom nest has eggs. It's hard to be sure of developments, because when a heron sits down in one of these deep nests it disappears from view.

Goldcrests were singing all round the lake.


The winter has been mild enough for a good survival rate, and the two previous winters were mild now, and these tiny birds have really multiplied.

There were also several groups of Long-Tailed Tits.


The feeder in the Rose Garden has run out, so there wasn't much to see there, but a female Blackbird was looking for worms under a bush.


A Blue Tit posed prettily with some new leaves sprouting in the background.


And a Robin was looking as charming as they always do.


The Redwings are still on the Parade Ground.

3 comments:

  1. Who won the free-for-all brawl? Or did they forget what they were fighting about and just drifted off?

    The Blue Tit and the Robin take the "Prettiest thing seen today" award in my book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Replying to oneself is ridiculous, but I think this deserves any opprobium I might incur:

      Has anybody ever seen a Great Black-Backed Gull larger than this one?

      https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s9_fsxsMmY0/WKzJJ538MVI/AAAAAAAASxw/ox26fwfWt9YppHTPGuA3orFz48SVU9E2wCEw/s400/IMG_0544.JPG

      It was sighted in Galicia, in north-western Spain.

      Delete
  2. Is that Goldcrest singing with a runny nose? (And did it sound at all different??)) Jim

    ReplyDelete