Sunday 14 May 2017

There are two new broods of Mute Swans. The pair on the little island in the Long Water have at last produced five cygnets.


And a pair on the Serpentine island have another five, here seen in front of one of the small boathouses.


This Egyptian Goose family on the bank near the bridge, with four goslings ...


... is not the same as the one on the other side of the bridge, which came from the Diana fountain. I was unsure about this, but today saw the two in close succession.


The largest of Blondie's goslings was preening its big new wings, and getting into a bit of a mess. It will learn how to deal with these things.


This Canada Goose has a nest on one of the rafts at the east end of the Serpentine, just to the left of the swan nest. The swans have eggs and were in a militant mood, stopping the goose from getting past on to her own eggs.


When I went past a second time, she had somehow managed to outflank them and was back on her eggs.

A few feet away, the Canadas with one gosling were working their way up the Dell restaurant terrace, begging for titbits, which of course they got.


The three surviving chicks of the Coot family on the raft are now quite large.


A pair of Great Crested Grebes and a Coot were disputing the ownership of a nest. Judging from its low, sloppy look it was probably built by the grebes, but possession is nine-tenths of the law.


The young Grey Heron in the rebuilt nest on the island was visible through the leaves. Its wings are fully grown and it looks ready to leave the nest.


Someone keeps visiting the Dell restaurant and feeding Cheesy Wotsits to the birds, which seem to like them them. The local mob of Carrion Crows were doing particularly well.


A short way up the shore, a crow that had been bathing jumped out the the lake to dry.


Another lamp post has Blue Tits nesting in it. It's directly outside the door of the Bluebird boathouse shop, and carries the number 118. Usually tits pause for a moment when emerging from the nest, giving you a chance of a clear photograph, but this one was charging in and out non-stop, and I was lucky to get even a blurred picture of it leaving.


A Robin near the bridge was sitting down on a branch, an unusual sight, but evidently it felt the need to rest its spindly little legs.


There was a Green Woodpecker on a tree east of the Diana playground.


On a sunny Sunday when the park was crowded, the Little Owl at the leaf yard was reluctant to come out of his hole. I finally saw him at the fourth visit to the chestnut tree.

4 comments:

  1. Bathing crow's tail looks in a state, wonder what happened to it. Jim

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  2. The threatening body language of the two swans making a pincer movement of disapproval round that poor Canada Goose is VERY expressive, I must say. Great pic.

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    Replies
    1. The goose is still having trouble. Well, it shouldn't have chosen such a silly place. The swans were there already when it decided to nest.

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