Wednesday 7 February 2018

Signs of approaching spring: a Wood Pigeon eating buds beside the Serpentine ...


... a Long-Tailed Tit carrying a feather, engaged in the long task of building its complex nest ...


... a pair of Great Crested Grebes courting on the Serpentine ...



... and a pair of Mute Swans on the Long Water. These were not the dominant pair here, and were soon sent off by the resident male.


A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee visited early gorse flowers at the Lido.


Yesterday Paul got a picture of one of the Little Owls on Buck Hill, whom we haven't seen for some time. They have probably been pushed out of their usual lime tree again by the Carrion Crows who nested in it last year. I expected this picture to be of the male owl, who tends to wander around the trees on Buck Hill, but in fact it's the female, who is usually much more sedentary.


The female owl near the Albert Memorial stared at Paul and Tom ...


... who were looking at a Coal Tit which visits a neighbouring tree, though it's not yet confident enough to come to people's hands.


Paul filmed one of the Nuthatches at the leaf yard coming to feed from his hand.  They are becoming quite bold, though the bird did sheer away at the first attempt.


And one more picture by Paul, a fine shot of a Greenfinch, a bird which is now quite rare in the park, well camouflaged in a variegated holly tree.


A pair of Carrion Crows enjoyed pulling a Grey Heron's tail on one of the rafts at the east end of the Serpentine.


Two Pied Wagtails ran around on the shore.


A Starling enjoyed the remains of a bowl of pea soup at the Lido restaurant.


Just after I left, a fox came down to the edge of the Long Water, closer than the one I saw yesterday, and Tom got a good shot of it. This is the mate of yesterday's fox and in better condition than the other one, which is distinctly mangy.

2 comments:

  1. Those crows appear to be tormenting the heron for the sheer fun of it.

    The Little Owl at the Albert Memorial looks as if she was annoyed that attention was diverted elsewhere? Or is she trying to get a look of what those humans are looking at?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She no longer looks at me for more than a few seconds. Other people are more interesting, or more annoying.

      Delete