Tuesday 20 February 2018

Blondie the Egyptian Goose is down to her last gosling, and it seems unlikely that this one will last long. It was only a few yards from several hungry Herring Gulls.


The Great Crested Grebes at the island were busy draping soggy algae on their ramshackle nest.


The grebes near the bridge have given up nest building for the time being, and were dozing under the willow tree.


A young Herring Gull found that an orange plastic buoy was just large enough for it to balance on without tipping over.


This Black-Headed Gull was ringed in 2016 in Griend in the Netherlands by Date Lutterop. It has come to the park every winter since then.


A Pied Wagtail found a small larva on the path at the bottom of the Parade Ground.


There are still many Redwings looking for worms under the small trees just up the slope.

https://youtu.be/oAUEzRXkVcE

A Magpie looked out from a winter flowering jasmine bush near the bridge.


One of the Nuthatches in the leaf yard looked cautiously over the top of a branch before coming down to take food from my hand.


A few Long-Tailed Tits were working their way up the edge of the Long Water.


In the Rose Garden, one of the pair of Coal Tits hung upside down on the nut feeder.


A Dunnock hopped around on the path underneath picking up the spillage.


A pair of Feral Pigeons clearly fancied each other. These highly varied birds often choose mates their own colour.

2 comments:

  1. Poor Blondie. I imagine the poor gosling didn't survive. She's such a good mother, it's cruel that she should lose all her family.

    Feral Pigeons are much more intelligent than we give then credit for. They can count to higher numbers than some of my students, and are much better at facial recognition than their teacher (that'd be me).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sadly, the last gosling had gone today. If she feels like nesting again, she'll have a better chance in summer when there is more going on and she will be less conspicuous.

      I am constantly amazed by the way that the birds I feed can recognise me from a long way off, in the case of crows as much as 200 yards.

      Delete