Wednesday 1 March 2017

It's unusual to see an adult gull playing with a toy. But this Lesser Black-Backed Gull was highly amused with a round metal object which it was picking up and dropping into the water and diving for.


The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Back's mate was finishing the last scraps on a pigeon while the other gull, having eaten his fill, watched her from the roof of the Dell restaurant.


When she gave up and flew to perch beside him, a Carrion Crow pecked off the scanty leavings.


On the tarmac behind them, a Greylag Goose enjoyed an apple.


A young Mute Swan rinsed its feathers by rushing around in circles flapping its wings.


A pair of the elusive Mandarins turned up at Peter Pan, and the female stopped to preen on a submerged branch.


The Great Crested Grebes at the east end of the Serpentine were in exactly the same place as yesterday, examining the edge of one of the rafts for a possible nest site. They tried to attach a nest to one of these rafts last year, but it wouldn't stick.


A Wren was foraging under the fence of one of the little shrubberies at the Lido.


A pair of Ring-Necked Parakeets were eating blossom on a tree near the bridge.


At the other end of the bridge one of the Coal Tits ate a pine nut I had given it, holding it down with a foot and pecking bits out of it.


The white-faced Blackbird at the Italian Garden perched on a gatepost waiting to be given a piece of biscuit.


Work was in progress at the bottom of the Parade Ground, shifting the Redwings up near the bandstand.


The Little Owl near the Albert Memorial was visible for a short time in the early afternoon.

2 comments:

  1. Poor pigeon. What a sad little detail those thin fleshless legs are. Gulls eyes are so cruel and so cold - it's probably the colour that makes it look reptile-like.

    The Lesser BB Gull appears to be having a grand time.

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  2. It's the colour that does it. The eyes of Common Gulls and Black-Headed Gulls are dark brown and make them look quite gentle and kind, which they aren't.

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