Mysterious Magpie

A Magpie repeatedly went into the pool at the top of the Dell waterfall to wash its face, and only its face. It kept this up for more than three minutes, so this clip only shows a few visits. The washing behaviour of birds is mysterious, especially of corvids.

A young Herring Gull brought a sweet chestnut ashore and amused itself by throwing it around.

Another was playing with a feather.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond looked out between the fading leaves of the horse chestnut.

At the gate of the Rose Garden a Blue Tit was looking for insects in the lichen on a dead hawthorn.

Both the Great Tits were in the arbutus tree in the shrubbery, and kept coming out for pine nuts.

The male Chaffinch waited on the ground below. He has a mate, but she is much shyer and seldom seen.

Milder weather brought out insects. A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee browsed on the arbutus flowers. The tree has flowers and fruit at the same time, because the fruit takes a year to ripoen.

Another was working over a patch of plumbago underneath ...

... and Common Wasps were emerging from a nest in the undergrowth.

A Honeybee was busy on an oxeye daisy in the border.

A Feral Pigeon drank from a small and muddy puddle. Pigeons are the only birds that can drink continuously rather than taking a beakful and throwing their head back to tip it down their throat. I think they can roll their tongue against the inside of their bill to make a kind of drinking straw.

The Robins on the north and south sides of the Flower Walk came out at the same time and nearly collided on my hand. They sometimes squabble in the middle of the path which marks the frontier of their territories. This is the north Robin which has replaced the familiar old tatty one.

A young Grey Heron stood on the head of a nymph in the Italian Garden. The poor girl is badly eroded by 164 years of London air.

The small willow tree on the corner of the Triangle is a popular lookout point for herons.

The number of Shovellers on the Long Water is rising slowly, and there are at least a dozen now.

But fifteen years ago we routinely got 50 each winter, and once there were over 200. Probably the reduction of these, as well as of other minority ducks, is due to the opening of the Wetland Centre and other riverside reserves, which privide a more attractive location. But it's odd that we are getting more and more Common Pochards.

Blackbirds in the yew

Three Blackbirds were climbing around in the yew tree at the corner of the Dell eating the fruit.

A Robin sang in the Rose Garden shrubbery.

The Robin that lives in the yew hedge in the Flower Walk came out on top and gave warning calls, first because it could see a Magpie and then because it could hear another Robin singing and was telling it not to take any liberties.

I'm constantly surprised by how the familiar male Chaffinch can spot me from a distance. I was coming through the trees on my way back home from the Round Pond and was at least 75 yards away from the Flower Walk when I saw it take up a position in the hedge to apply for a pine nut. Then it followed me to collect several.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond didn't like the chilly drizzly day and stayed in her hole.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits flitted through the surrounding trees.

A pair of Jackdaws picked me up at the bridge and followed me along the edge of the Serpentine, politely requesting peanuts. You can't say no to one of these charming birds.

The Grey Wagtail was at the Lido examining a fallen pigeon feather.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull stood on the Big Bird statue keeping an eye on the landing stage. If any other bird had landed on it he would have been down in a flash.

Pigeon Eater was away from his station, and the odd-coloured Lesser Black-Back with pale eyes had taken his place on the roof. I haven't yet seen a confrontation between these two, but I think Pigeon Eater still has the upper hand.

The three young Grey Herons huddled in the lower nest, which is more sheltered from the wind than the one where they were brought up. They've never seen autumn before and take a poor view of it.

There was a full house of Cormorants on the posts at the island, and one had to balance on the chain and another to stand on a boat.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes rested peacefully on the Serpentine, but then they saw another grebe straying on to their patch and hurried off to expel it. The intruder left quietly without the need for a full threat display.

A Greylag Goose chewed bark off a fallen twig.

The Egyptians from the Italian Garden drank from a puddle. No birds seem to like the water in the lake and they will always choose a puddle if there is one, however muddy the water.

A Gadwall drake preened a wing. Their plain grey plumage is relieved by a touch of ginger on the wing coverts.

A busy Sunday

The park was crowded with a half marathon race going on. Starlings waited expectantly on the roof of the busy Lido restaurant.

Others were washing on the edge of the Serpentine.

A Grey Wagtail hunted insects among fallen leaves on the edge of the restaurant terrace.

A Robin in the Rose Garden can be persuaded to take pine nuts on the ground, but remains nervous ...

... while the new one on the north side of the Flower Walk arrived, apparently never having seen me before, and plonked itself down on my hand as if it had known me all its life.

The Coal Tit at Mount Gate was also confident very early. Birds of the same species really do have very different personalities.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits passed through the trees on the other side of the path.

A Jay waited for a peanut.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond was in a very difficult part of the tree, dozing peacefully and not interested in events on the ground.

Two Grey Herons were having a confrontation on the Long Water.

One chased its rival around the lake. But it was the rival that caught a fish at the end.

A young heron was fishing beside the boathouse. The building is supported by piles  with reinforced concrete beams resting on them, and these beams extend only just below the water line, so there are gaps underneath. The heron was waiting for a careless fish to stick its head out of the gap.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull was patrolling its territory on the south shore of the Serpentine. Like the other dominant gull on the landing stage, it's getting its dark head early. This may be a sign of power in the hierarchy.

The two Great Crested Grebe chicks on the Long Water chased their father noisily across the lake.

The solitary Moorhen in the Dell wandered over the lawn. Its companions have all been eaten by the foxes.

The two Egyptians in the Italian Garden were completely undisturbed by the crowds shouting as the runners staggered by. They've seen it all before.

Robins in the rain

There was rain and drizzle for several hours. A Robin in the Rose Garden sheltered under a baby sage bush.

Another thought that if it was going to get wet it might as well do it properly, and bathed in a puddle. It alternately splashed and shook itself dry, a method of washing that I've also seen in Carrion Crows and Magpies.

After the rain stopped, the Robin in the yew hedge in the Flower Walk climbed to the top and surveyed its territory with a lordly air.

A few people were on the Dell restaurant terrace sheltering under umbrellas, enough to attract some Starlings.

A Wood Pigeon lurched around in a rose bush trying to find some rose hips within reach.

I reached the Little Owl at the Round Pond before the rain started. She was on one of her usual perches in the horse chestnut tree, with the usual annoying leaf in the way.

A Carrion Crow perched on the Big Bird statue by the Diana fountain. This is part of the territory of the bossy Black-Headed Gull, but he happened to be away at the time so there was no conflict.

A pair of Black-Headed Gulls paraded side by side at the Triangle.

Pigeon Eater, in his usual place at the Dell restaurant, stood on the edge looking aggrieved. He had been driven off his latest kill by a couple photographing their little daughters, unaware that each shot featured the bloody and mangled corpse of a Feral Pigeon.

A Common Gull looked at an orange plastic buoy at the Lido. Bright colours are always interesting.

The young Grey Herons usually retire to their nest when it rains.

A pair of Moorhens at the Vista were looking for small edible things in the grass, at this time of year mostly grubs such as wireworms which are the larvae of click beetles.

Another was going through some floating leaves at the edge.

A Gadwall drake upended in the shallows to pull up strands of algae and any small water creatures that might be clinging to them.

At the far side of the Vista a pair of Shovellers rested on the gravel.

The Black Swan flew across the Round Pond, passing the spray of the water inlet.

An Scarlet Oak (or maybe a Pin Oak) had a fine display of bright leaves.