Robin confusion

I thought that when the familiar tatty Robin disappeared from the Flower Walk that its place had been taken by the Robin from the south side of the path. But I was wrong. Here is the Robin on the south side, in the usual place on the railings ...

... and here is a new Robin on the north side. It's impossible that the tatty Robin could have smartened up so much in a few days. But it's already coming boldly to my hand, as well as chasing away the Great Tits in the bushes.

The Coal Tit at Mount Gate was waiting among red leaves.

The female Blackbird in the Rose Garden shrubbery poked around in the leaf litter.

A Starling sang on a chair at the Lido restaurant.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond was restless and preening in her nest hole.

Pigeon Eater was back in his usual place at the Dell restaurant and there was no sign of the other gull that was moving in on his territory. He must have asserted himself strongly with the big interloper.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull had given up its dalliance, at least for the time being, and was on its usual notice.

This Grey Heron has taken to perching on a bush at the Vista, to the annoyance of the Moorhens that live underneath.

A Great Crested Grebe chick followed its father across the Long Water.

The Little Grebe was still on the Round Pond, and still staying far out in the middle. Evidently the fishing is better in the deeper water.

A Cormorant dried its wings on the bare branch of a half-dead tree on the Serpentine island, a favourite perch for Cormorants.

Gadwalls are normally shy and completely wild, so it was a surprise to see one walking across the path to beg for food from someone on a bench. But the park has its effect on the wildest of birds.

Joan Chatterley was at Rainham Marshes and got excellent pictures of a Black-Tailed Godwit ...

... and a Great Egret. People have started calling them Great White Egrets recently, but all egrets are white. I blame Jaws.

A Shaggy Parasol mushroom at the Round Pond made a perch for an ichneumon wasp. There are countless species of these and I wouldn't dare to guess which one.

The fatsia bush at the bridge has produced fruit, large fleshy pods full of seeds. How different from its near relative ivy, which has small berries.

Owl staying dry

Frequent showers kept the Little Owl in her hole at the Round Pond.

The Little Grebe (and I'm sure there's only one now) stayed obstinately in the exact centre of the pond. Since this is 230 x 180 yards it was impossible to get a good shot.

A Pied Wagtail was hunting on the grass at the Vista.

Great Tits flew out from a yew tree at the bridge to take pine nuts from my hand.

The familiar tatty Robin in the Flower Walk hasn't appeared for several days. I hope he is all right. He has sometimes disappeared for a while in the past. Meanwhile his mate has taken over the territory, and was perched on the back of a bench he often uses.

Some sad person had left a piece of chocolate cake at the Lido restaurant, and also some of a chocolate milkshake. My view is that if you're going to hit the chocolate you should do it thoroughly. Anyway, it was a bonanza for the Starlings.

Chocolate is not the only flavour.

The young Grey Herons are now out of the nest most of the time, and I think they are now having to feed themselves. I've seen one fishing on the Long Water twice. One had returned to the nest today but there was no sign of its parents.

The odd-coloured Lesser Black-Backed Gull with pale eyes really does seem to be staging a takeover bid for Pigeon Eater's territory. It was standing in his favourite spot on the Dell restaurant roof while Pigeon Eater was some way up the shore hunting. Incidentally, I haven't seen this gull's supposed brother, the one with dark eyes, for several days.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull and his new mate were walking the walk and talking the talk.

The gull on the landing stage was staring possessively from his territory.

One of the Great Crested Grebe chicks on the Long Water cruised past the Vista. They are beginning to fish for themselves but probably not getting much yet.

The Black Swan was at the Triangle by himself. He shows every sign of being lonely and restless and it would be a kind act to take him to St James's Park and introduce him to the unattached female.

Two of the six young Mute Swans on the Long Water preened and flapped their mighty wings at the Vista. There's a lot of work to do because they have 20,000 feathers.

A Willow Emerald damselfly glittered in a sunny spell near Peter Pan. They like the spikes of the cast-iron railings when these are warmed by the sunshine.

The catmint in the Rose Garden still has a few flowers, and one Common Carder bee was still browsing on them.

Small puffballs have emerged under the yew tree at the bridge. Oddly, two were joined together.

Robin subsong

A Robin in the corkscrew hazel in the Flower Walk sang very softly to itself.

There was also a Robin under a flower bed in the Rose Garden. Both came out to take pine nuts thrown on the ground.

This is the Great Tit that follows me around the Rose Garden. He has a mate who sometimes turns up too. He pecked daintily at a pine nut I gave him. They like to make these delicacies last, and don't just swallow them whole as they could.

A Magpie pecked at a small area of ground and was evidently finding something to eat. After it had flown off I looked at the ground and saw a solitary ant which it had missed, so evidently there is a nest here.

The usual Chaffinch turned up at Mount Gate, impatient to be fed.

This is the place on the east side of the Long Water where people come to feed the Rose-Ringed Parakeets, and it's now absolutely infested with them even when there aren't any people. Food spilt on the ground has now attracted a colony of rats.

The Little Owl by the Round Pond was buffeted by the wind in her horse chestnut tree, but hung on amid the flailing leaves.

One Little Grebe could be seen diving on the pond. I'm beginning to think it's the only one now and the other three have flown away, though it's odd that the group should split up.

A Grey Heron perched halfway up a willow opposite Peter Pan. It was too high to fish and too low to get a good view, but for some reason they like willows and are often seen in one.

The Black-Headed Gull with the rings was hatched on a lake at Hobšovice, a few miles northwest of Prague, in 2021, and was given the metal ring ET05.589. It migrated to Hyde Park in its first winter, presumably with some unringed gulls from the same place, and has been here every year since. Last year Bill Haines caught it and put on a plastic ring, Orange 2V57. I haven't seen it with a potential mate before. The flirting couple were rudely interrupted by a young Herring Gull.

Pigeon Eater is now fully in winter plumage with a grey-streaked head. His bright yellow legs fade slightly in winter but are always noticeable.

He was with his mate and also the persistent odd-coloured Lesser Black-Back with pale eyes. It refuses to be scared off, so he'll just have to put up with it. It doesn't hunt pigeons, or at least not yet.

The Black Swan was resting on the edge at the Triangle with another swan. He was courting a female on the Round Pond before he returned to the Serpentine, but I don't know whether this one is the same.

A skein of Greylag Geese flew past the island.

There were few insects despite quite warm sunshine. I saw one Migrant Hawker dragonfly near the Italian Garden. A patch of oxeye daisies in the Rose Garden attracted a Honeybee ...

... and a Greenbottle fly.

There was a large clump of autumn crocuses -- which are not crocuses at all, and are the unrelated species Colchicum autumnale.

All parts of the plant are poisonous, The Victorian murderer Catherine Wilson is thought to have used it to poison several victims. It was also used fictionally in a Dr Thorndyke mystery, where it was pointed out that there are no symptoms for 20 minutes, allowing a convenient getaway.

The ground under the ginkgo tree in the shrubbery was littered with little yellow plum-like fruit. It stinks abominably, and if you are careless enough to touch one you will need to scrub your hands with hot water and soap to get rid of the smell.

The rings of the Fairy Ring mushrooms at the Round Pond ...

... are so large and strongly marked that they show up in the satellite pictures on Google Maps.

House Martins hanging on

On a chilly dark grey day it was a surprise to see some House Martins still over the Round Pond. It's high time they were off to the south.

At least one Little Grebe was there, as usual by the number 8 buoy. It objected to a Black-Headed Gull on the buoy, and somehow managed to browbeat it down into the water ...

... and chase it away.

The Little Owl looked out of her hole.

Pigeon Eater was back at the Dell restaurant shooing the other gulls off his territory.

Two young Lesser Black-Backs wisely retreated before he went for them.

It can be quite difficult telling a juvenile Lesser Black-Back ...

... from a Herring Gull of the same age.

Lesser Black-Backs are slightly smaller and darker. If you see one of them flying, it's easier as young Herring Gulls have pale inner primaries and the wings of Lesser Black-Backs are dark all along the trailing edge. However, these two gulls are in their second winter and if you look carefully at their backs, you can just see the first dark grey feathers beginning to grow on the Lesser Black-Back and pale grey on the Herring Gull.

This young Grey Heron on the Long Water still has some of its spiky juvenile crest, and I think it must be one of the three from the latest nest starting to explore the lake. The older herons hatched this year are already smoother.

The two Great Crested Grebe chicks here have slightly unusual patterns in the stripes on their face, with a black circle in front of the eye. This will disappear soon as their adult feathers begin to grow.

A young Cormorant at Peter Pan had an unusually bright white front.

The male and female Blackbirds in the Rose Garden shrubbery rummaged around in fallen leaves.

A Robin on a hawthorn twig was annoyed by the dreary thump of the music played by the Sunday rollerskaters. 'How do you expect me to sing with that racket going on?'

A handsomely marked black and white Feral Pigeon wandered around on the edge of the Serpentine.

The Grey Wagtail was in the Dell pool having a bathe.

It was only there for seconds before some people looked over the parapet and scared it away, so I didn't have the chance of better pictures.

As so often on a Sunday there were strange goings-on in the Buck Hill shelter.

A chance view looking between the legs of the Physical Energy horse. The building with the cupola is in Knightbridge not far from the barracks, and I think the boring tower is in Victoria. The peculiar yellow structure is part of a builder's crane.