Saturday 23 September 2017

A Carrion Crow took advantage of the pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull's absence to eat some of its pigeon, but when the gull returned it had to back off quickly. Note how the crow can hold the pigeon with its perching feet for convenient pecking, which the gull can't manage.


The Coots that nested unsuccessfully near the bridge still regard the disused nest as their property, and were not pleased when an Egyptian Goose stood on it.


The Black Swan enjoyed being part of a Mute Swan family, but when the father arrived he was thrown out as usual.


A Great Crested Grebe flew along the Long Water, as usual never gtting more than a few inches above the surface. They can fly perfectly well when they need to, for example in freezing weather when there's a danger of being iced in, and they move to the Thames.


It's quite difficult for a Cormorant to get on to the wooden posts in the lake. It has to make a big vertical leap out of the water, and find its footing at the top, and often it crashes back into the water. This time it succeeded.


The youngest Moorhen chick in the Italian Garden climbed up a clump of plants and stood on top, looking pleased with itself.


A rare sight in the Italian Garden.


A visit to the rowan trees on Buck Hill produced just one Magpie.


There were some Long-Tailed Tits in a tree at the bottom of the hill.


The female Little Owl at the leaf yard was in the chestnut tree.


A Migrant Hawker dragonfly was hunting in the reeds at the east end of the Serpentine.


This group of dark purplish-brown mushrooms was growing next to a fairy ring, composed of ordinary Fairy Ring mushrooms, near the Serpentine Gallery. I don't know what they are.


Update: Mario comments, 'Judging from the salt-like grains I seem to see on some of the caps in the photo, they may be Coprinellus micaceus (previously Coprinus micaceus), Glistening Inkcap mushroom.'

9 comments:

  1. Not very good on fungi Ralph, but think your photo shows one of the inkcap tribe. I'm sure someone more mycologically astute will give a more accurate ID for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's what I suspected, but even the erudite Mario is uncertain about the genus Coprinopsis and the whole motley crew.

      Delete
    2. Judging from the salt-like grains I seem to see on some of the caps in the photo, they may be Coprinellus micaceus (previously Coprinus micaceus), Glistening Inkcap mushroom.
      Mario

      Delete
    3. Thank you very much for the possible identification.

      Delete
  2. I saw a mermaid yesterday but she was a different mermaid

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do tell.I saw a different mermaid last year, blonde and plump. They seem to come up the Thames estuary fairly often.

      Delete
  3. Yes, the one I saw on Friday was blonde and plump!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Who won the Coot vs Egyptian faceoff? On one hand Egyptians are used to dealing with crocodiles, but on the other hand, well, it's a Coot,so that has to count for something.

    That Cormorant deserves a gold medal for landing such a jump.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Coots always win in the end, because they wait for the other bird to get bored and go away.

      Delete