Quietly confident Robin

A Robin sang gently to itself on a twig near the Italian Garden. This isn't one of my regular Robins, but it put up with being filmed and came to my hand for a pine nut.

The big yew tree in the Dell has a lot of fruit on it, which made a pretty background for one of the local Blue Tits ...

... and the female Coal Tit of the pair.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery could be seen in the plane tree ...

... under which a Jay barred the way to make sure that it was noticed.

Carrion Crows gathered in a tree by the Round Pond. I had gone there because a Little Owl was heard yesterday in the area where the pair used to nest in the old hollow tree until it burned down. I had a good look around, but didn't find an owl. However, it's a place to listen and look.

Both the Peregrines were on the tower.

On the grass below, where the Crystal Palace stood in 1851, five Pied Wagtails dashed around. The site is now football fields, and the worn grass and bare patches make it easier for them to run.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull stood on the notice at Fisherman's Keep that is its favourite lookout point. As with all the ugly proliferation of notices in the park, no one pays this the least heed. But it was striking how all the notices warning about toxic 'blue-green algae' were taken down shortly before the mass swimming event, and then put back immediately afterwards.

Pigeon Eater was waiting for a Feral Pigeon to stop paying attention. But even with its head turned away it could see him out of the corner of its eye, and flew away before he could rush at it.

A Little Grebe chick on the Long Water chased a parent with a fish.

Another joined in, but this time the parent chose to eat the fish itself. They can't give everything to the chicks.

These are the Great Crested Grebe chicks from the north side of the island returning to the place where they were hatched. The remins of the nest can be seen on the left of the picture.

The two from the east end of the island were fishing together at the edge of the lake, though when a parent appeared they raced off to pester it.

The term for a group of Coots is 'a raft', but these are really on a raft, the battered remains of the swan nesting basket at the Triangle. There's one Moorhen with them on the near corner.

Seven Cormorants preened on the fallen tree at the Peter Pan waterfront.

A late Red Admiral butterfly perched on a leaf in the Flower Walk.

Ivy flowers at the back of the Dell attracted Common Wasps. I was looking for an Ivy Bee, a species occasionally found here, but had no luck.

Another odd gull couple

A Carrion Crow had a brisk wash in the Serpentine before flying off to dry in a tree.

A Grey Wagtail hunted along the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace.

The Blue Tit pair in the Dell are now regular customers for pine nuts. One waited in the corkscrew hazel bush.

A Great Tit perched in a pyracantha bush in the Flower Walk. Most of its abundant berries have now been eaten.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in the plane tree.

Both the Peregrines were on the barracks tower, but by the time I got round to it the female had flown away.

The Lesser Black-Backed Gull here is the one we saw eating a Feral Pigeon it had caught at the Triangle. It was having a flirtation with a Herring Gull. There are several of these mixed pairs, and I suspect that some of the lighter coloured gulls we take to be Lesser Black-Backs are in fact hybrids.

A Grey Heron stood on the swan nesting basket west of the Lido. Although no swan has even been on it, the flimsy structure is falling to pieces by itself.

The basket at the Triangle where the Black Swan and 4GIQ nested has been thoroughly trashed and is beginning to sink. It's now a hangout for various Mute Swans and Coots.

The pair were together on the other side of the lake.

A Little Grebe and one chick threaded their way through a crowd of Coots on the Long Water.

The female Great Crested Grebe checked out an abandoned Coot nest while, just visible behind her, a chick shouted at her to stop wasting time and bring it a fish.

The other two chicks were on the far side of the bridge. The pushy one which had been unmercifully pestering its father turned away abruptly ...

... because it saw that its exasperated parent was about to chase it off.

The single young grebe from the nest under the Dell restaurant balcony is now independent but by no means skilled at fishing yet, and is having to work hard to survive this difficult stage. They usually start by fishing in the shallows at the edge of the lake, where there are tiny fish and other small aquatic creatures that are easy to catch.

We saw the young Moorhens on the fallen tree at Peter Pan when they were very small. Now they are fully grown and in their drab teenage plumage.

An enormous Buff-Tailed Bumblebee on a clump of baby sage in the Rose Garden must be a queen.

All the remaining Willow Emerald damselflies have lost their green colour and turned bronze, though they still have their metallic sheen.

Black Swan back to normal

After a peaceful interlude the Black Swan is back to his usual aggressive self. He chased a Mute Swan off the Long Water and under the bridge ...

... and returned, looking pleased with himself.

Later he was with his mate 4GIQ on the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace.

The Egyptian goslings were in a huddle with the smallest in the middle. The largest one stretched, showing developing wing feathers.

The Gadwall drakes are now back in their quietly elegant breeding plumage.

The Great Crested Grebe family from the Long Water were at the bridge. Here are the three chicks together on the Serpentine ...

... and one of them swallowing a fish on the other side.

The single teenager from the Dell restaurant was fishing busily. I didn't see it catch anything.

The Little Grebe chicks weren't visible but could be heard on the Long Water.

There was an uneasy standoff at the bridge between a Grey Heron and a pair of Carrion Crows wanting to eat the same patch of scraps.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery looked down from the plane tree.

A Jay waited in a holly tree by the bridge.

A Blue Tit in the Flower Walk ...

... and one of the regular Robins were also expecting service.

The fox at the Vista can be lured out of cover by putting some peanuts on the ground.

Squirrels were eating blackberries in a bramble patch and yew fruit in the Dell. They chew off the sweet juicy outside of the yew fruits and discard the hard seed inside which is poisonous.

A young squirrel at the Dell was getting too familiar with the human visitors. It knew that they had food but had not learnt the necessary caution. After it had started chasing people on the open lawn a parent came and collected it, which was a relief.

This dragonfly on a hybrid pelargonium in the Rose Garden is an old female Common Darter which has darkened with age.

Several male Migrant Hawkers were hunting around the bridge ...

... and Willow Emerald damselflies mated on a reed. They too have dulled in colour.

Summer's lease extended

It was the turn of the male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery to perch at the front of the big plane tree, on a new branch where I almost missed him. Although I have heard them both calling in this tree, you never seem to see them near each other.

On a warm day with plenty of insects still around for the small birds, these weren't crowding out to be fed. But the Coal Tits in the Dell are always keen on pine nuts, which are a special favourite of theirs. By choice they live in stone pines, the umbrella-shaped trees familiar in the Italian landscape, and peck these seeds out of the cones. However, there are no stone pines in the park.

Pigeon Eater is well into his winter plumage, with dark streaks on his head. But he had also picked up some muck on his front from swimming in the foul lake. He is very careful of his appearance, and soon preened it off.

This is the Grey Heron I saw sunbathing by the island three days ago, today back in the same place taking in the sunshine.

Cormorants have spread to occupy most of the posts at the bridge.

It's getting hard to tell which Great Crested Grebe chicks are which as they range widely about the lake.This is definitely one from the nest on the Long Water ...

... with a sibling on the other side of the bridge.

These two near the Lido are evidently from the nest on the north side of the island ...

... and this is the single teenager from the nest at the Dell restaurant, taking a break from fishing to preen and have a massive shrug. 

The Black Swan was cruising among the Mute mob on the Long Water with a lordly air. It seems likely that he is aiming to be the boss of the Long Water, and perhaps the subdued behaviour of 4HDW is the result of losing a fight with him.

Two Canada Geese washed on the Serpentine, and one of them flapped its mighty wings.

When the mother of the Egyptian goslings preened, two of the little ones copied her -- but the one in the middle was asleep.

The baskets of water plants which you can see in the picture of the Cormorants above attract insects, and the insects attract dragonflies. There were a good many here, mostly Migrant Hawkers but there was also a male Lesser Emperor.

A male Common Darter rested on a leaf in the Dell. They haven't been at all common this year.

The gaudy display of flowers planted to cheer up the drab building of the Hyde Park bandstand lavatories includes a large and brilliant canna lily.