Thursday 9 March 2017

A welcome return: the male Little Owl in the chestnut tree near the leaf yard looked out of his hole for a moment.


He didn't stay long. After keeping out of sight all winter he has become nervous of humans again, and needs to get used to posing for his many admirers.

The female Little Owl near the Albert Memorial is no longer worried by photographers. She's thirty feet up a tree and knows they can't get to her.


Both the pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the leaf yard had come down to the new feeders and were taking turns to pull out nuts. They really are nervous, and I was lucky to get this hasty picture.


The solitary Fieldfare on the Parade Ground came quite close for a change, and pulled up a worm.


It was the turn of the Redwings to be distant and hard to photograph.


A Robin at the leaf yard was also dealing with a worm.


And so, surprisingly, was one of the young Egyptians at the Round Pond.


This fine picture was taken yesterday by Virginia, who also sent me this irresistible shot of their mother looking amiably gormless in the way that Egyptian Geese do.


I checked the family today, and all the young ones were in good order.


A pair of Mandarins ventured on to the Serpentine a few days ago and have been steadily working their way farther along. Today they were beyond the Lido.


I do hope they don't try to nest here. With all the Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-Backs on the Serpentine, the ducklings wouldn't last a day.

A Mallard was washing. This is the mate of the white drake, who is impossible to photograph in direct sunshine.


Two Coots were fighting. Seeing this, a third one rushed over to join in.


A Moorhen had a Marilyn Monroe moment in the brisk breeze.


Two Pied Wagtails bathed in a puddle.

4 comments:

  1. Are all the moorhens in the park ringed? Can't imagine who would get around to doing that. Nice catch, that shot of the one in the breeze, by the way.
    Please to see all the little Egyptians are still in good shape.

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    1. Bill Haines is ringing Coots and Moorhens in the park to trace their movements around London -- yes, they do go about, flying by night. However, he is putting on white plastic rings as well as metal ones. This is just a metal ring, a British BTO one, and I don't know where it's from. I could only see the initial letters, EJ.

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  2. She doesn't look too bright, but she's so pretty...

    I didn't know that Egyptian Geese ate worms. It makes sense for the babies to eat all the protein they can get, though. I think that a biologist whose name I can't recall claimmed that there are no true exclusively herbivorous animals strictly speaking.

    I bet the third Coot thought, hey, a free for all! And down it bore. Coots never disappoint.

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    1. I think that even cows will eat the odd frog if they some across one.

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