Two herons on a one day visit to West Park at the end of last month, standing out of each others line of sight in the branches of the same willow tree.
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#lockdown – Thick-legged flower beetle
Thick-legged flower beetle (someone musthave had a hard time coming up with that name) on a buttercup flower.
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Male blackbird prospecting dry soil
One of the West Park blackbirds struggling to find food in dry soil – this towards the end of the long dry spell.
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#lockdown – bumbles: four species
Four species of bumble bees seen in the garden recently : garden bumble bee, tree bumble bee, large red-tailed bumble bee, early bumble bee, buff-tailed bumble bee.
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#lockdown – flowers, other plants
Still catching up on the numerous pictures of flowers and the like taken on my lockdown exercise sessions.
This year’s two cygnets at West Park with their parents. Parent birds both stamping their feed in the mud at the bottom of the lake – perhaps stirring up whatever it is they eat. Then one of the cygnets scratching its neck.
This gosling the latest greylag to harch, seen on Thursday when it looked to have hatched only a few days ago. This and the next two clips taken on a smartphone camera.
Coots feeding chicks – these may have been as much as six weeks old, and still being fed by the adults. Both parents do this feeding.
Swans and cygnets again, this time further from the shore. Unlike coot chicks, the cygnets can get their own food as soon as they are hatched. Parental care is still essential for survival, but here it is by guiding, teaching and protecting.
Whether they are on water or on land, quite often as here the pen (female) will be close by the cygnets; the cob (male) a little further away, on guard.