Reed Bunting and Clouded Yellow

A pair of Blackbirds nesting in the Dell hopped around under the trees collecting worms and caterpillars for their nestlings.

Ahmet Amerikali found a male Reed Bunting in the reed bed under the Diana fountain, where there are also three singing Reed Warblers.

A Goldcrest sang in the yew tree on the north edge of the leaf yard.

One of the Long-Tailed Tits nesting on the edge of the Ranger's Lodge garden came out on a twig.

A Chiffchaff sang above it in the top of a sycamore.

Very few small birds came to be fed, but there are always some Great Tits. The leaves of the corkscrew hazel in the Dell are almost as twisted as its twigs.

The male Robin of the pair at Mount Gate collected pine nuts. I haven't seen the female for several days, and hope she's nesting.

A Jay looked expectant near the Italian Garden ...

... and a Carrion Crow watched from the red-leafed cherry tree in the Rose Garden.

Pigeon Eater and his mate were away, and another pair of Lesser Black-Backed Gulls were claiming his place on the Dell restaurant roof.

There are three Grey Heron chicks in the third nest on the island, quite hard to see high in the tree above the second nest.

The Black Swan swaggered about chasing the Mute Swans away from his nest ...

... where a Coot glared sullenly at 4GIQ.

A pair of Egyptian Geese stood on the lower bowl of the marble fountain in the Italian Garden as Coots passed with their chicks in the lake below.

The six Egyptian goslings from the first brood are getting their flight feathers.

A pair of Mallards were enjoying the Huntress fountain in the Rose Garden while the resident Egyptians were away on the lawn.

A Clouded Yellow butterfly perched on a pansy in the herbaceous border. This is the first one I've seen in the park.

Much commoner but still pretty, a Small White fed on a dandelion in the Dell.

Five Canada goslings

The Canada Geese on the Long Water have moved their goslings down the lake to the gravel strip at the Vista. Perhaps the parents are aware of the dangerous pike hanging around the nesting island. There are five goslings. I couldn't get a picture as they were hidden in the leaves both times I passed, but luckily Duncan Campbell found them on the edge and got this excellent shot.

The Black Swan and his Mute mate 4GIQ were at their nest on the floating basket in the Serpentine. She has laid four eggs now but isn't incubating them yet, so more may be on the way. The nesting Coots on the basket, which were there first, still refuse to budge.

The Mute Swans nesting at the east end of the Serpentine fussed around their nest, watched by the Grey Heron which is usually there fishing on the edge of the reeds. She is sitting on seven eggs.

The two young Grey Herons from the first nest on the Serpentine island were exploring the Long Water. They perched in the big fallen poplar at the Vista.

Ahmet Amerikali, at Russia Dock Woodland, found a Grey Heron catching a very small young fish. That's not much of a meal for a heron, but if the young fish on the lake here are as advanced as that it's good news for the nesting Great Crested Grebes as the fish are just the right size for feeding chicks. Usually they don't reach this size so early in the year, but the premature spring seems to have had its effect.

Ahmet also found another encouraging sign, the first Long-Tailed Tit fledglings already out of the nest and begging their parents to feed them.

I don't think any are out here yet, but there are plenty of parents carrying insects to nests. This one was by the Henry Moore sculpture.

A Robin was also collecting insects near the Italian Garden.

Other than these there weren't many small birds visible, as they were getting finding plenty of bugs and didn't need to come out to be fed. But several Great Tits appeared as usual. This is the female of the pair on the south side of the Dell, calling from the big yew tree.

The female Grey Wagtail was also in the Dell, on a rock under the small waterfall. I don't know whether the pair are nesting here or at the Triangle, but I suspect the latter as I've seen them carrying insects near there several times. They are very mobile and can be found anywhere around the lake.

A male Pied Wagtail was hunting from the posts by the bridge. He called incessantly. Perhaps he doesn't have a mate and is trying to attract one.

A Jay looked out expectantly from a cherry tree near the Italian Garden.

The solitary Black-Headed Gull was at Fisherman's Keep again. It is very tatty but the primary feathers of its wings are crossing over its tail in the correct position so it doesn't seem to be injured. I haven't seen it flying, but presumably it can as it arrived here.

A Yellow-Bellied Slider terrapin sunned itself on the willow by the bridge.

A patch of ground cover with various plants on the south side of the Dell is a good place for bees, and I saw a Common Carder Bee ...

... and a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee here, a change from the Hairy-Footed Flower Bees which are still everywhere.

The patch of green alkanet by Temple Gate attracted a Dark-Edged Bee Fly.

A female Brimstone butterfly fed on a bluebell by the Vista. Their upper wings are white, unlike those of the bright yellow male, but the undersides of both sexes are the same pale green imitating a leaf.

First view of Canada goslings

The Canada Geese nesting on the island in the Long Water have at least four goslings. They're very hard to see among the plants, but I managed to get a mediocre picture by looking through the bushes on the other side of the lake.

The pair of Egyptians in the Rose Garden had a brisk wash in the basin under the Huntress fountain.

The Black Swan's Mute mate 4GIQ was sitting on her eggs each time I went past, so I couldn't see how many she has now. The Coots who had the nesting basket before she arrived are indignant at the intrusion, especially as she has been pulling twigs of their nest to put on her own, but there's nothing they can do.

The Black Swan has been mostly staying a short way along the shore but visits her occasionally.

The Coots nesting in the perpetually unsuccessful place on a post at the Peter Pan waterfront had two chicks, probably not for long as there are Herring Gulls on the posts and these chicks are likely to be the only survivors of a larger brood.

A Cormorant stood on a post next to a pair of Pied Wagtails which had come to hunt midges.

The large Coot nest at the bridge proved to have infertile eggs, which the Coots have now pushed out and have laid more. The nest was visited by a Great Crested Grebe, fishing around it and quite likely stealing twigs under water  ...

... for its own nest under the willow on the other side of the bridge.

The perilously sited grebe nest on the chain at the island is still in place.

A Grey Heron was sitting in a nest at the west end of the island. This place has seen only sporadic activity this year, unlike last year when there were two nests and one of them produced two broods.  But the pair may finally be getting going.

The two young herons from the first nest were fishing near the bridge, which is a productive place for all fishing birds. It looks as if they have successfully got through the hungry time after first becoming independent, and are building up their skill and local knowledge.

A heron at the Lido restaurant terrace peered appealingly over the planters at the edge, hoping to be given a snack.

A female Dunnock foraging in the woodland beside the Long Water got a green caterpillar. You can hear her mate singing at 7 seconds in, between bursts of Chiffchaff song.

A Blue Tit looked out from pink hawthorn blossom near Temple Gate.

The male Robin at Mount Gate was dwarfed by a Wood Pigeon eager to grab any pine nuts I put on the ground for it. Only the unattached Robin here will come to my hand, but perhaps the pair will copy it and have a much easier time.

Ahmet Amerikali got good pictures of a Blackcap bringing a bit of grass to a nest behind the Queen's Temple ...

... and a Reed Warbler east of the Lido.

This bee on the corkscrew hazel in the Dell is clearly an Andrena mining bee, but I'm not sure its colour is bright enough for a Tawny Mining Bee, A, fulva.

Good news on a windy day

The Tube strike had kept most people out of the park, which usually allows some good sights, but it was windy and this was making the small birds stay in the bushes, so I didn't get any notable pictures. However, there is some good news.

The Black Swan, after months of courtship, has finally succeeded in mating with his white girlfriend 4GIQ, and she has already laid three eggs on the floating nest basket at the Triangle.

The eggs are hard to see, and this is the best I could manage by holding the camera over my head.

The Canada Geese were together on the island in the Long Water, and Jenna is pretty certain that their eggs are beginning to hatch and that she heard one gosling piping.

It's hard to be sure because of the noise of the fountain a few yards away, where a Grey Heron and a pair of Mallards were standing on the edge of the bowl.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes bounced in the waves on the Serpentine.

Coots are building a nest on the buoys at the Lido, but no nest here has ever succeeded.

The two Mandarin drakes were at the Vista together without the female, which may be a sign that she is nesting in a tree nearby.

A pair of Magpies clung on tight as the wind whipped the bushes by the Diana fountain.

A Jay looked out from hawthorn blossom by the Italian Garden.

A Wood Pigeon stared gravely from a tree in the Rose Garden.

A Long-Tailed Tit brought a midge to a nest behind the Queen's Temple.

Tom was at Rainham Marshes, where he got some much better pictures. A Red Kite soared overhead.

A pair of Chiffchaffs mated on a twig.

There were two fine butterflies, an Orange Tip on a mustard flower ...

... and a Green Hairstreak making a good job of pretending to be a hawthorn leaf.

Back in the Rose Garden I got a picture of a Small White also effectively hiding itself.

A hoverfly perched on a stem looked very much like Eupeodes luniger, but I know you have to be careful about Eupeodes species.