Thu 2022-02-03 
A pair of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) on the lawn in front of our flats.
The gull on the left was persistently stamping its feet on the ground, presumably to encourage worms to come to the surface. The gull on the right only did it occasionally and most of the time just seemed to be waiting for the other one to finish.
Photo taken in Reading, UK on 2022-01-27
Thu 2013-06-13 
Back in early May I saw this pair of mute swans (Cygnus olor) perform this little 'dance' just after mating.
Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2013-05-06.
Fri 2012-03-16 
Two wood pigeons (Columba palumbus) in a tree in front of our kitchen window. Initially the one on the left was grooming the one on the right. After a while the one on the left lowered its head as if to allow the one on the right to do the same to it:
Photos taken in Reading, UK, on 2009-03-18.
Tue 2011-10-18 Yesterday I witnessed some very human-like behaviour between two of our local carrion crows (Corvus corone):
I was looking out of our kitchen window, which is on the second floor, and initially saw only one crow down on the lawn. This crow was holding something white in its beak, maybe a piece of bread. Suddenly, it looked around, and then poked a hole in the ground, popped the white thing into the hole, and then picked up a leaf and placed it over the hole. At that point a second crow flew down from the roof of our flat, landing on the lawn a couple of metres from the first crow. The first crow slowly walked off to one side while the second crow walked in a round-about way to the exact spot where the first one had stood. The second crow then picked up the leaf, laid it to one side and poked around in the hole. Having apparently satisfied itself as to the contents of the hole (it didn't appear to eat the contents), the second crow then replaced the leaf on top of the hole and wandered off.
It seems natural to interpret the first crow's behaviour as an attempt to hide the white thing from the second crow, but what intrigues me is the second crow putting the leaf back after it had a look in the hole. This seems to indicate an instinct to hide from the first crow the fact that it had had a look.
Tue 2011-08-23 
A few days ago I saw this crane fly 'bouncing' along a path in the Wilderness. It had rained heavily the previous day and the path was soft and muddy. The fly would repeatedly touch down in the mud, immediately fly up a few centimetres and then drop down, repeating this over and over again. I presume it was laying eggs in the mud. Every now and again it would stop and rest on the path a few seconds, before starting off 'bouncing' again.
A female Nephrotoma sp (Diptera: Tipulidae).
Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-08-19.
