Tuesday 6 February 2018

The Great Crested Grebes near the bridge took a break from nest building. You can get a rather obstructed view of them from the path.


The grebe nest at the island is both obstructed and distant, and it's impossible to get a good picture of it.


A male Tufted Duck, in the presence of two females, stretched his neck up as far as it would go, a posture which Tufted drakes consider makes them irresistible.


A pair of Gadwalls, happily mated, didn't bother about display and cruised side by side on the Long Water.


A Coot had a vigorous bath in the Serpentine.


Two Grey Herons stood impassively on the posts at the bridge while other birds bustled around.


Two male Pied Wagtails whizzed past at knee height, chasing each other. Later I found them on the far shore at a safe distance from each other.


A small flock of Long-Tailed Tits looked for insects in a tree near the boat hire platform.


A male Great Tit looked his best in a yellow bush in the Flower Walk.


This is one of the Blue Tits who come to be fed in the leaf yard. Humans can't tell males and females apart, but males shine in the near ultra-violet, which these birds can see.


The Robin in the leaf yard is one of my regular customers.


A Starling shone in the sun under the Little Owls' tree near the Albert Memorial.


The female owl looked down from her hole.


On a chilly day, a fox basked in the sunshine of the east side of the Long Water, north of the Vista.


These large mushrooms, about 5 inches across, were growing at the bottom of Buck Hill near the Henry Moore sculpture. They looked very like Saffron Milk Caps, but these only grow in the late summer and autumn, so they must have been something else. Update: Mario says that they are old Field Blewits (Lepista saeva) which have faded.

7 comments:

  1. The iridiscence of the Starling's plumage is so opulent. The humblest bird will always have beauty in an unreachable degree.

    I didn't know that male Blue Birds glowed in almost UV light. That must be something to see!

    If I didn't know better, I'd say the bathing Coot was trying to drown an imaginary enemy. They are belligerent even in their most mundane activities.

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    Replies
    1. I didn't put that clearly. 'Near UV' means the frequency of UV nearest ordinary violet, the bit we only just can't see. But some birds and insects can see it.

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  2. Always something to learn in this blog, including new (to me) English words!

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  3. To me the mushrooms look like old Field Blewits (Lepista saeva), which are very numerous in the park.
    Mario

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. I was wondering about that, though not a trace of blue remains on their stems.

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