A closer look at the Little Owl

A very dark and drizzly day was much improved by a sight of the Little Owl near the Queen's Temple. It was surpising that he had come out in such dismal conditions.

A Wren hopped around in the undergrowth at the Vista, very hard to photograph as the view was constantly obstructed and this was the best I could manage.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits was busy at the northwest corner of the bridge.

They concentrated on a dogwood bush. These birds eat seeds as well as insects, but dogwoods have berry-like fruits and these had long gone. However, several kinds of moth infest dogwoods so it seems likely that they were finding tiny larvae.

A Magpie watched them from the other side of the path.

Another Magpie perched on the dead tree by the Italian Garden, a favourite lookout point for all kinds of birds.

It was soon knocked off by a Carrion Crow.

The Jays in Kensington Gardens have remembered that swooping down to seize a peanut from my fingers is a good strategy that saves them from being bullied by Carrion Crows. One near Temple Gate ...

... and another by Peter Pan came down.

Not much was to be seen in the Rose Garden, but a Coal Tit ...

... and a Blue Tit were waiting in one of the usual rose bushes.

The female Pied Wagtail often seen running along the south side of the Serpentine seems to be always the same one. A male appears less often, but a few days ago I saw both of them speed past in pursuit of the Grey Wagtail.

A Grey Heron on the small waterfall in the Dell ...

... noticed a disturbance behind it, a piece of bread moving around in the water. It flew over and found a carp eating it. The carp was too big for the heron to eat, so it decided to grab the bread.  A Moorhen nipped in and took a bit.

This trodden-down patch of reeds on the Long Water was made by the Mute Swan family as a resting place, but when they're away a heron finds it a useful place to fish.

Pigeon Eater, on the kerb at the Dell restaurant, was plotting bloody deeds.

A nearby notice was occupied by the Black-Headed Gull with Blue 2023, one of Bill Haines's rings. Its head is already nearly as dark as that of the fierce gull at the landing stage, probably a sign of the high rank that allows it to occupy a post without getting knocked off.

The Black Swan shows off

The Black Swan has been following the Mute female 4GIQ on and off for several days.

He tried to impress her by having a faceoff with a Mute male. I think this one was just passing and minding its own business when the Black Swan sailed up with raised wings.

This Mute teenager was alone by reeds at the east end of the Lido. It may be one of the six from the Long Water, but if so it's a long way from the rest of the family.

Many birds like oatmeal and there was a contest for a patch someone had dropped on the edge, which a Canada Goose wins simply by being bigger than the others.

The reduction in the number of Cormorants on the Long Water gave a Great Crested Grebe a chance to fish in the old water filter under the edge of the Italian Garden. But after a few minutes a Cormorant came up and shooed it away before it had caught anything.

A fishing Grey Heron was reflected in the calm water. The tumbled rocks, including a lump of concrete, may be from an attempt to consolidate the edge of the Long Water, which is mostly a natural boggy mess.

A Pied Wagtail ran up the hard concrete edge of the Serpentine, a most unnatural surface but one that suits hunting wagtails just fine.

A Jay looked for acorns under an oak tree by the leaf yard ...

... and another by the Italian Garden applied for a peanut.

So did a pair of Magpies a little farther along the path.

This pair at the Lido restaurant were after scraps from tables, a few of which were occupied despite the cold day.

A Stock Dove perched in a tree on Buck Hill.

A Coal Tit looked out of the corkscrew hazel in the Dell. The pair seem to have moved here from the big yew tree they used to occupy. You can tell it's one of them by the little white marks over its eyes.

The Coal Tit at Mount Gate ...

... was joined by a Blue Tit ...

... and both of the pair of Robins, this the usual one ...

... and the mate staying at a tactful distance along the railings.

A Little Owl surprise

It rained pitilessly in the morning. It doesn't do any harm to Mute Swans, but I'm sure they were relieved when it stopped.

Cormorants do get wet, and the little group at Peter Pan had to abandon drying their wings.

The Grey Heron in the nest at the east end of the Serpentine island was looking soggy and dejected.

By the time I got round the lake to the Lido the rain had stopped and there was even an occasional flash of sunlight. The heron was in its usual place on the handrail.

The Black Swan had abandoned his unsuccessful advances to the Mute Swan and was alone again. Naturally he came over for some sunflower hearts.

When he arrived in the park a couple of years ago he was a teenager, clearly brought up in the wild and quite ignorant of human behaviour. But his status as the only Black Swan in the park led a lot of people to feed him, and he is now a practised beggar.

The Egyptian Geese with their single offspring have also received at lot of attention, and trot up expectantly to anyone they see. I was glad to note that the young one's lameness is improving daily, and if you didn't know about its injury you might not notice the remaining slight limp.

The pair at the Italian Garden were on Buck Hill and came down hopefully. I don't feed Egyptians, though plenty of other people do.

Pigeon Eater was wandering around looking for a chance. The light caught his distinctive eye with spots on the yellow iris, by which he can be infallibly recognised.

A close-up view.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull at the landing stage admired the reflection of his new dark head.

I would never have thought to look for a Little Owl on such a cheerless day, but Triss, a member of the bird rescue group, was passing the Vista and heard it in a tall horse chestnut, and he got this picture. The owl, clearly a male, was having a dispute with another nearby. I think from its huge eyebrows that it may be the one from the Serpentine Gallery -- or his single most recent owlet, which was clearly male and taking after its father when last seen.

A Carrion Crow in the Dell flipped over wet leaves, looking for anything edible underneath.

Two Jays followed me along the edge of the Long Water.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge was expecting service ...

... and so was the one at Mount Gate.

It was looking aggrieved because it had to wait while I tried to coax a Coal Tit down from the cockspur thorn tree. It didn't come -- only one of the pair here  will -- but took a pine nut from the ground along with the Robin.

Both the Coal Tits in the Dell showed up in the corkscrew hazel bush, waiting to take pine nuts from the railings.

Going home I passed the Albert Memorial, glowing in the soft evening light.

How pigeons drink

A young Wood Pigeon finished the last of the berries in a holly tree, and an adult drank at the top of the Dell waterfall. Pigeons are, I think, the only birds that can drink just by putting their beak in the water. Other birds need to take a beakful and throw their head back to swallow it. Pigeons seem to be able to roll their tongue against their beak to make a sort of drinking straw to suck up water.

Coal Tits turned out in the hawthorn in the Rose Garden ...

... and in the corkscrew hazel in the Dell ...

... accompanied by several Blue Tits.

The other corkscrew hazel in the Flower Walk produced a Robin ...

... and the faithful one at Mount Gate emerged from a bush when called.

A Jay waited near the Italian Garden ...

... and the pair of Magpies at the Lido are now regular customers.

Carrion Crows often wait in the top of the variegated holly on the path below the Queen's Temple to swoop down when you are trying to feed a Magpie or a Jay and steal their food. It's hard to outwit these clever birds which know exactly what you're thinking.

The Lido restaurant terrace is bordered by a line of planters which shield the edge of the water from disturbance, and also attract insects, so it's a favourite place for Wagtails to hunt.

The crowds around the Wasteland don't bother Pigeon Eater in the least. He just trots between the people, looking for a pigeon that isn't paying attention.

At opposite ends of the lake, the Czech Black-Headed Gull ...

... and the one at the landing stage were in the middle of clearing rivals out of their territories.

The Grey Heron at the Triangle has found that the baskets over the new reed beds make a good fishing station, with fish lurking under the floating edge of the baskets.

Another on the Long Water was sticking to the traditional place on the Mute Swans' nesting island, which is deserted by the swans until they start breeding again next spring.

The fallen Lombardy poplar at Peter Pan is a good place for a Canada Goose to doze undisturbed by dogs and people.

Egyptian Geese walked from the edge of the Serpentine across the road to drink from a puddle in the horse ride. All birds prefer rainwater to the borehole water in the lake. The two adults are accompanied by the only young one on the lake. It still has a very slight limp from an injury a few weeks ago, but I'm sure it will recover completely.

Last night's rain has refilled the Huntress fountain in the Rose Garden with clean water, and the local Egyptians were in their usual place on the edge.