Overdue visit to Kensington Gardens

This morning my Mum had an appointment in Paddington and she suggested that I meet her afterwards for a stroll around Kensington Gardens. It's been ages since my last visit so I immediately agreed.

 The Little Owls at my patch, Cranford Park, weren't seen this year, but I knew by following Ralph Hancock's daily blog that the resident pair at Kensington Gardens were being seen on a daily basis recently. So the Little Owls were number one on my photo hit list today.

 

It didn't take too long to find the first one. It was perched in this years nest tree, and according to Ralph's blog it's nearly always the female that favours this tree. The male appears to favour last years nest tree, but despite searching we couldn't find him.

 

 

She wasn't easy to photograph but at least Mum got to see her through my binoculars.

 

I'm always wary when 'birding' with Mum. What could keep me interested and at the same spot for hours, would make her very bored, so I had to take into account of what she would enjoy doing too. A great compromise was found by sitting outside the café drinking coffee in the mild weather.

 

 The birds on the Serpentine were very active with Mute Swans chasing off other Mute Swans, Greylag geese flying off and landing in good numbers and Egyptian Geese squawking as they flew from one end to the other. It gave me a chance to have a go at photographing flying birds, something I'm not very good at, but with the camera setting set at 'sports mode' I had a few attempts....

 

And I'm still not very good at it !

 Birds on the water were much more easier to photograph....

Greylag Goose

Lesser Black-backed Gull

There were good numbers of Red-crested Pochards around, with the stunning males outnumbering the females considerably.

 

 

The one below was taking offence to a Mallard that had drifted too near the group....

 

We had bought some bird suet pellets with us today, but the birds weren't too fussed about coming down for food. It was a relatively mild day so still lots of insects around for them to catch. This Robin took some pellets from the railings but wouldn't come to Mum's hand...

 

We wandered down to Wholefoods for some delicious lunch and refreshments, and whilst Mum went on a mini shopping spree I made my way back to Kensington Gardens.

 

Behind the Serpentine Gallery I found at least five very obliging Mistle Thrushes....

 

 

and I just managed to catch the one below in mid jump.....

 

Back at the Little Owl's hotspot, I found the male in last years nest tree. He has always been a bit more obliging and less nervous than the female, so I was able to creep around to get a few shots from different angles.....

 

I searched the other tree in vain for the female and after taking my eyes off the male for just ten minutes I then couldn't relocate him either.

 

Well I had achieved what I set out to do, see the Little Owls, so I decided to head home.

 By the Peter Pan statue a couple of Cormorants distracted me...

 

 

 

On a nearer post a Heron was perched. I grabbed a shot then saw a Kingfisher fly down the far bank and go into some scrubby bushes.....

 

Figuring it was still quite early, I settled myself on the bench nearest the Heron to see if the Kingfisher would reappear. It didn't so I consoled myself with a close up of the Heron.

 

Herons (and Kestrels) are what first piqued my interest in birds many many years ago, and I still have to stop to admire one. They look so dinosaur-like, especially in flight, and when posing like this one today I always see there's an air of regalness about these birds.

 

What I didn't spot at first though, was it's deformed foot....

 

One 'toe' looks very uncomfortable and deformed, though it didn't hinder the birds ability to perch, and when it started preening the deformed 'toe' actually looked to be a handy tool....

 

The infamous Ralph then appeared and after informing him of the Kingfisher sighting he rewarded me by taking me back to the Little Owls trees and showing me the female again, but from a much better vantage point....

 

and on our way back to the Peter Pan area we found a Knot Grass moth caterpillar...

 

So all in all a pretty successful day. I got to spend a few hours with my lovely Mum, had a delicious lunch with her, got to see and photograph both of the resident Little Owls and bumped in to the incredibly knowledgeable Ralph. A very pleasant Saturday.