26th May

Bushy Park

Nothing much to report, although Skylarks on the eastern side of the park seem to have expanded their range slightly. This might be the result of a slightly better breeding season last year due to areas of bracken being sprayed in an attempt to reclaim areas that it has expanded into. Once it has died back then hopefully it can return to acid grassland. The Skylarks are possibly slightly under pressure because of the lack of rain earlier in the year. without the rain the grass isn’t as tall as it was last year, meaning secure/safe nest sites are harder to find.

Reed Warbler: 5 males are holding territories in the reed beds in the Brew House.

Cetti’s Warbler: the male is still present.

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This Cormorant struggled for sometime as he swallowed an eel on the Leg of Mutton pond.

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This is a strange partnership, apparently the Coot built a nest that was taken over by the Mute Swan. The Coots were having none of that and built an annex for their nest.

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The Buzzard was mobbed as she flew west over the Brew House Meadow.

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Richmond Park

I forgot to include this OPM clip last week, you can see how much the caterpillars have grown in a 5 days.

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A short column is on the move.

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Comments

Unknown said…
That all looks very familiar... Nice shot of the Buzzard and Crows, especially as they were all so far away.
Unknown said…
Amazing captures and good! So was the cormorant really able to win the struggle and gulp down that huge eel okay?? Does the desperate eel put up a good fight, if eaten, does the unlucky prey get swallowed alive?!

-Kyle