Great Cresed Grebes courting in Lee Valley Country Park

On a recent cold day I went for a walk in Lee Valley Country Park with a group from the RSPB.  Our last port of call was the Grebe Hide, where we were treated to a great courting display.  Unfortunately, the Great Crested Grebes were quite far away and, even with my lens at longest zoom, these photos are the best I could manage.

At first there were actually 3 Great Crested Grebes, but one of the males soon got rid of his rival.  This happened too far away for me to get any photos at all, but I could see the aggression through my binoculars.

Then the chase got going:

Male and female Great Crested Grebes

Mr and Ms eventually got closer together:

Great Crested Grebes

and then closer:

Courting Great Crested Grebes

and then extremely close:

Is it one Grebe with two heads??

They did a lot of head bobbing, which I was unable to photograph.  They then parted and chased one another around for a while before getting back together and repeating the whole process.  It was fascinating.  I would have stayed longer, but I was freezing and the group were leaving to get the train back home.

It was a great day, with a great amount of birds.  As well as the Great Crested Grebes, I saw a Bittern and lots of Lapwings (photographs in my other posts).

Baby Coots on the Regents Canal near Limehouse - London wildlife

Today I went on a walk along the tow-path of the Regents Canal, starting at Limehouse.  I had not gone very far before I spotted a couple of Coots and their babies.

Towards the middle of the canal was a parent Coot with a baby Coot.

Coot and a baby Coot

Towards the back wall of the canal there was the other parent Coot with the rest of the family - 4 baby Coots.

Coot with four babies

Further along the canal another pair of Coots were building a large nest.  The male Coot had just delivered some more nesting material.

Mum-to-be Coot in centre of nest and dad-to-be at side

It is such a shame that this and all the other nests along the canal seem to include rubbish as part of their nesting material.  Why, oh why, can't we be more responsible and put our rubbish in the right place - in a bin, not in the canal?

Spring blossom and Canada Geese in Battersea Park

I love going for walks in London's parks and, for the first time in years, I recently took myself off for a wander round London's Battersea Park.  I don't remember ever walking round the lake before and it looked lovely with the Spring blossom on the trees.

Canada Geese under a canopy of Spring blossom on the trees

A couple of Canada Geese were slowly swimming around near the bank and occasionally nibbling on the greenery at the edge of the water.

Canada Geese and Spring blossom

I loved the patterns in the water and the reflections of the Canada Geese.

Canada Goose with reflection behind the shrubbery

The geese were having a gentle swim and trying to find some tasty shoots to eat.

2 Canada Geese hiding behind the Spring shoots

I stayed for a while watching them and taking photographs.

Canada Goose with it's reflection in the water and berries on land

I then walked further round the lake and got a different view of the Geese, greenery, berries and blossom - it looked so pretty.

2 Canada Geese with greenery, berries and blossom on the trees

The geese were then joined by 2 Mallards - drake and duck - who were also enjoying the Spring.

Canada Geese, Mallards and Spring blossom

In the future I will definitely have to go for some more walks in Battersea Park.

Lapwings in the Lee Valley Country Park

During a walk in the Lee Valley Country Park, which was led by a member of the RSPB, we were treated to groups of Lapwings in two different, but very similar, areas of the park.

Lapwings on the lagoon

There were groups of Lapwings flying around too, but it was impossible to photograph them.

Lapwings standing in the water

Both groups were in the distance, but I hope that you can still see what beautiful birds they are.

Egyptian Goose mum protects her babies from the humans

Last week I spent some time towards the end of the day watching an Egyptian Goose family in Kensington Gardens.

Dad was around when I first saw them, but then swam off leaving mum alone with four little cute goslings.  Below is a photograph showing just three of the babies, as the other one declined to co-operate in a group photo.

Three Egyptian goslings under mum goose's tummy

I stood some way back from the family, as I did not want to disturb them.  But then, some women and their children came along and, unwisely, the mothers let their children get near to the Egyptians.  Mum Egyptian immediately got her babies under cover - well, under her actually!

Mother Egyptian Goose hiding her four little goslings

Some people have no sense!  How would those mothers have liked it it some Giants had come along and wanted to touch their children?  

Goslings coming out from under the protective cover of female Egyptian Goose's body

The humans were still trying to touch the Egyptians, so there was no choice but to take to the water - even though the family had just taken ages preening their feathers and getting dry.

 

Egyptian Goose mum and 4 goslings getting ready for another dip in the water

So it was compulsory swimming time again for the family.

Egyptian Goose and babies take a swim

Egyptian Goose and goslings - 3 in a line and 1 needs to catch up!

Egyptian Goose mum with close formation of youngsters

Mum Egyptian did not force the babies to swim around for too long and was soon back on dry land - a little further away from the people who disturbed them.

Egyptian Goose mum on bank while her goslings start eating again along the edge of the pond

The people who had caused the extra swimming class then went away and mum and babies waddled back to their original location, did some more preening and drying off and then settled down again.

Mum Egyptian Goose having a rest with her 4 babies at her side

I do hope that they did not have to go swimming again that evening!

Egyptian Geese and their babies - at last!

After a long birthday walk in the sunshine round the Long Water and Serpentine in Hyde Park last week, I trudged wearily back to the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens to see if I could spot the Egyptian Geese and their 4 youngsters that were supposed to be living there.  I had looked for them when I first entered the park at lunch-time and they were nowhere to be seen.  By now it was latish and by then, the sun had disappeared and there was the threat of a shower - but I was in luck.

Egyptian Goose with 3 babies

Egyptian Gosling eating at the water's edge

Mum was surrounded by three of her youngsters, while the fourth was more interested in looking for food in the water near dad.

Male Egyptian Goose - dad

After it had tired of eating, the youngster swam around in the water for a while.

Egyptian gosling having a little swim

Then it decided to join its siblings and mum on the bank.

Mum Egyptian Goose with four goslings

They all had a jolly time preening themselves, with mum having a well-earned sit-down.

4 Egyptian goslings

Don't the babies look gorgeous?

Wood Pigeon nest on my roof terrace - update - 2

I have not been out onto my terrace for a week since seeing a Wood Pigeon nest at the back of one of my larger containers.  It held 2 youngsters and the parent birds have been taking it in turn to sit with them.  I put photos on an earlier blog.

I just got back from a weekend away and, on inspecting the nest from a distance (out of my bathroom window on the floor above the terrace), I saw that the youngsters were on their own.  I got my camera and nipped quickly out on the terrace to find out how they had grown.

2 young Wood Pigeons at the back of a large plant container

You can see that the one at the back is larger than the one nearer the front of the photograph.

The larger baby Wood Pigeon is slightly puffed-up

When I put my hand through the leaves in the plant pot in front of the youngsters, the larger baby at the back tried to sit up and pumped out its chest.

In my first photos, shown in an earlier blog, the birds did not look as though they had feathers at all.  You can see that they now do have feathers and that the chest feathers on both of them are rusty-coloured - so they are quickly growing up and beginning to look similar to their parents.

I just looked out of the bathroom window again and it seems as though a parent bird is now back with the youngsters.

I do not really like having a Wood Pigeon nest on my terrace - but I am fascinated by it!

Heron, blue tit and robin in trees and baby bunnies on the ground in Hyde Park

Yesterday I went on a lovely sunny birthday walk in Hyde Park.  I started off at the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens in the hope of seeing the Egyptian Geese and babies.  I ate a sandwich while sitting on a bench in the sunshine - but there was no sign of the Egyptians during the whole time I was there.  I gave up and walked around the Long Water instead.

The first bird I saw when I reached the lake was a heron perched on a fir tree.

Heron on a fir tree

I walked around to the other side of the Long Water and came across Blue Tits in the trees.  I am a fairly new amateur photographer and have a hard time capturing large birds in trees, let alone small ones that are madly hopping from branch to branch - but did manage to take a picture of one of the Blue Tits.

  

Blue tit on tree branch

I had better luck with a robin, who posed nicely really near me.

Robin on a branch

Below the birds, in the wooded area, there were some very cute-looking baby bunnies and these were much easier to photograph - due to sitting more-or-less still and being unable to fly!

Paw washing for a baby bunny

Two friendly baby bunnies

Three baby bunnies having a get-together

After a long walk round the whole of the lake, I went back to the Round Pond in order to leave the park and go home and, guess what, the Egyptians and their babies were there - but the photographs will have to go into another post.

Heron nesting amongst the reeds – a nature lesson for me

Distant heron standing in the reed bed

Last year I was watching a distant heron in the reeds on the other side of a lagoon in the wild part of Barnes Wetland Centre.

Heron and Coot on nests, with water-skiing Mallard

I knew that a nearby coot was on a nest but, only when I downloaded my photographs onto the computer, did I realise that the heron was standing on it’s own nest.   I was really surprised to discover this as I thought that herons only nested at the top of trees.  While I was watching, a mallard was having a water-skiing session along the water in front of it.

Heron standing on nest in the reeds

Heron on nest in the reeds

Heron tending to it's nest in the reed bed

Heron on water-based nest, plus reflection 

That day I learnt that herons do, sometimes, nest on the ground or, in this case, it looks as though it is nesting in the water!

Wood pigeon nesting on my first floor terrace - 1

I spent the afternoon exhausting myself by walking all round London's Battersea Park searching for wildlife to photograph - during sunshine and showers.

After a well-deserved rest and a cup of tea when I got home, I decided to pot up some pansies that I had bought in the park.  I did this on my outside terrace, which is basically the roof of the shop extension that is at the back and below my flat.  There is a well on the side of the extension that goes down two floors below to the shop basement.

While I was working outside, I occasionally heard a deep-throated single note warning sound that I thought must come from a pigeon.  I looked down the well at the side of the roof terrace, but could see nothing - I had limited vision because there is a post fence along the edge of the terrace, so I could not lean over to look properly.

Below is a photograph, taken last year, of Agapanthus in two containers that are standing on a very large container, which is placed on the wall.  Below, on the ground, is a further pot containing white lilies.

Agapanthus and lilies on the terrace

I carried on with my planting and tidying up but, when I came to move a container on the floor in the corner of the terrace, a great big fat Wood Pigeon flew up from the back of the large container that is on edge of the terrace wall and gave me the fright of my life!  I could not see it because of the two smaller containers that were standing on the large one.  They now only contain leaves, without the tall flowers that are in the photo.

When I looked through the plants in the container, I saw two strange things that I can only presume are baby Wood Pigeons!  I quickly ran back into the flat and got my camera so I could try and take a photograph before mummy (or daddy) came back.

Baby Wood Pigeons at the back of a very large plant pot

As you can see in the above photograph, the parents have made only a little effort in making a nest, just having added a few sticks to the top of the soil in the container.

I could see the parent Wood Pigeon waiting anxiously on a neighbouring terrace, so I quickly finished off what I was doing and went back into the flat.  After I closed the door, it flew back to my terrace and sat on the fence for a while.  The photo below was taken through the safety glass panel in the back door.

Wood Pigeon waiting anxiously to return to her young

Later, I looked out of the bathroom window above the terrace and could just see that mum/dad was sitting with the babies and keeping them warm.

So I have got my own wildlife!  I won't be able to take any more photographs for fear of frightening the parent Wood Pigeon off for good.

Bittern hiding in the reeds

Recently I went on a very cold "birding" walk in the Lee Valley Country Park.  I stopped for sandwich lunch in the Bittern hide and everyone there was very excited because an elusive Bittern had been spotted.  I thought I could see something moving in the distance, so pointed my camera with the longest zoom it could manage and hoped for the best.

It turned out that a Bittern had been spotted, but in a different channel to the one I was looking at!  When I realised this, I looked in the right direction and the pesky bird - which was very clearly visible in the water in front of the reeds, just quickly hopped right out of view before I could capture its image.  I was absolutely gutted and annoyed with myself for the rest of the day.

However, when I got home and downloaded my photos onto the computer - guess what was hiding in my picture?

Camouflaged Bittern in the reeds

I had seen a Bittern after all - but it was not the one that the others were looking at!  I felt very lucky and very elated to see this very shy bird sitting in my photograph.  And isn't it very well camouflaged while hiding in the reeds?  No wonder it is hard to spot.

Bittern in the reeds

Larger view of the well-camouflaged Bittern