Friday 12 May 2017

The first young Long-Tailed Tits are out of the nest and chasing their parents through the trees begging for food. This family was in the Dell.


A Blackcap near the bridge also had a family in the bushes, and was bringing them a Mayfly.


The local pair of Coal Tits came out to be fed.


There were five singing Reed Warblers on the south side of the Serpentine, three in the reeds at the east end and two in the bed below the Diana fountain. These two appeared for long enough to be photographed, though there were always reed stems in the way.


The bird never stays on this net for more than a second, and flees as soon as you pick up the camera, so there is no time to find an unobstructed angle.


One of the young Grey Herons from the collapsed nest on the island has survived. It was visible in a tree for the first time in several days. The parents have managed to build a platform of twigs on the debris of the nest which caught in the tree as it fell.


A Great Crested Grebe from the nest on the island was sheltering under the electric boat, which is a catamaran so there is a good space under the middle. Only one chick was visible.


The grebes at the south side of the fallen poplar in the Long Water were ecstatic about their first egg.


The fallen tree seems to be still alive, as its leaves show no sign of withering. It may have fallen over roots and all, and still be attached to the ground on one side.

A pair of Coots on the Long Water have built a nest between the tern raft and one of the posts it is moored to. I don't know how this nest stays in place, as the raft is only tied to the post and drifts to and fro with the wind.


The Egyptian Geese from the Diana fountain have lost one gosling but still have five. They remain in a foolishly exposed place between the fountain and the bridge.


A Pied Wagtail was bathing at the Lido.


It flew soggily up to the railings to dry.


A Wood Pigeon enjoyed a shower in the fountain in the Rose Garden.


A Carrion Crow near the Ranger's Lodge had got a takeaway food container out of a bin. It couldn't get the lid off -- this is quite difficult even for human hands -- so it stabbed through it with its beak. A human would have to give one of these lids a hefty whack with a sharp knife to pierce it.


The Little Owl at the leaf yard stared down from his favourite branch.


This is almost the same as yesterday's picture. The growing leaves mask the branch, and there's only one place you can get a clear view from. But a day without a picture of an owl is a missed day.

2 comments:

  1. Those happy Great Crested Grebe celebrating their first egg just made me day.

    Good news that at least one of the young Herons survived. Any chance of the other birds' sheltering in different trees?

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    Replies
    1. I don't think so. They would have fallen straight down to the ground, and even if unhurt would have been abandoned.

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