Destructive parakeets

Rose-Ringed Parakeets were eating pink cherry blossom in a tree at Mount Gate. Or rather, they picked a flower, chewed it for a moment to squeeze out some sweet nectar, and then spat it out and moved on to the next flower. In this way a few of these pretty but destructive pests can completely strip a tree of flowers or leaf buds.

In the cherry blossom in the Rose Garden there were a Blue Tit ...

... and a Great Tit with a passing Buff-Tailed Bumblebee.

The Coal Tits wouldn't pose here, but I got one in the climbing roses that completely surround an old tree stump.

A Robin looked out from the wintersweet bush in the Flower Walk.

The female at Mount Gate had a background of daffodils ...

... and a Blue Tit waited in the budding forsythia.

A male Chaffinch perched in the next bush.

A male Greenfinch sang his peculiar wheezing song in a tree near Peter Pan.

On the other side of the lake a male Goldfinch was singing in the top of a tall tree, not bothered by the twigs swaying in the breeze.

A Jay near Temple Gate finished the peanut I gave it in a few moments and asked for another.

The male Pied Wagtail on the Serpentine can put his sore foot to the ground and run if he needs to, but it's obviously painful and he prefers to keep it tucked up. There are now quite a lot of flying midges for him to catch in midair.

The female was a short way up near the Dell restaurant, looking at a patch of foam washed to the edge by the wind. This is formed naturally from fatty acids released by decaying organic matter, and is not a sign of pollution by detergents.

The Coots' nest at the bridge is getting larger.

The Mute Swans east of the Lido are now quite belligerent. I couldn't see who was chasing who, but the chaser is likely to be the male 4FYY who claims the nest site. His mate 4FUF was guarding the entrance to the nest to keep out other swans.

These are the same Canada Geese as I saw yesterday eating new willow leaves from the tree at the bridge.

The Egyptian Geese on the south side of the Serpentine still had seven goslings. Their father was looking suspiciously at a passing swan.

An Egyptian is nesting in a sawn-off tree a few yards away.

Little Owl at the Ranger's Cottage

A female Little Owl called in a lime tree by the Ranger's Cottage in Hyde Park.

This is where the parents of the two young owls more recently seen in Hyde Park spent last winter, though the young ones appeared in a broken horse chestnut 50 yards to the east and are still seen here by the gardeners when they come in at 6 am.

The magnolia in the Flower Walk is now in bloom, and hosting a Great Tit ...

... a Coal Tit ...

..., and a Robin.

The Blue Tits preferred a cherry ...

... and the wintersweeet bush at the Queen's Gate Crossing.

A Jay was ruffled by the breeze at the northwest corner of the bridge.

On the ground below a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee was climbing on roots at the edge of the railings. There are some flowers here for it so it's not clear what it was doing, but it seemed active and healthy. Could it have been a young queen looking for a nest site?

Pigeon Eater's mate was back with him on the Dell restaurant roof. This picture gives a good view of the difference in head shape between males and females. He's on the right, and his skull is noticeably longer and flatter.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull at the halfway point of the Serpentine, Blue 2331,is getting the dark head feathers of his breeding plumage.

A pair of Coots were making a nest in the reed bed under the Italian Garden. They can make good nests out of either reeds or twigs, and happily use whatever is closest to hand.

The Mute Swan pair 4FYY and 4FUF were guarding their nest site in the reeds east of the Lido. They seem to be securely in possession now but they haven't started nesting.

A pair of Canada Geese came under the willow tree at the bridge to eat the green shoots, which are also much liked by swans.

The two pairs of Egyptian Geese by the Serpentine Gallery often have territorial disputes, mostly just shouting at each other but today a furious fight broke out between the two males.

The Egyptian mother on the south side of the Serpentine hurried her seven goslings to the water as a dog passed. It was only an elderly pug but they are right to be careful.

There are more Egyptian goslings at the Round Pond, one pair with four ...

... and another with three.

Three Shelducks were seen this morning flying over the Round Pond. They didn't land. These are very rare vistors to the park, and the only record I have dates from 1943.

Hints of spring

It was a cold and grey day after yesterday's warm sunshine, but spring is definitely getting under way. The forsythia at Mount Gate is beginning to blossom, and the single Robin ...

... and a Blue Tit perched on budding twigs.

The cercis bush in the Rose Garden is sprouting buds for its purple flowers, where another Blue Tit ...

... and one of the Coal Tit pair waited for their pine nuts.

There is a large patch of blue squills below the Albert Memorial ...

... which I found when I went to find a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling from a treetop on the edge of the road. It flew away over the roof of the Royal Geographical Society.

A Green Woodpecker probed the long grass on Buck Hill looking for insects and larvae.

One of the young Grey Herons on the island had climbed out of the nest into the one below it and about six feet away. I hope it can get back, but even before they can fly they are good at climbing and jumping from branch to branch.

The herons in the west nest were together, but still showing no sign of nesting properly.

Pigeon Eater, who over the past few days has always been seen with his mate, was alone of the Dell restaurant roof. Perhaps his mate was out of sight on the roof, where I think she nests every year but I have no way of telling.

A Great Crested Grebe was fishing near the outflow.

Coots have nested for years on the submerged wire baskets at the bridge, which are filled with twigs to act as a fish hatchery. Until the day before yesterday this place was completely covered with pontoons used by the workmen repairing the bridge. As soon as the pontoons were cleared away the Coots returned, and have now built a large nest out of willow twigs.

There is competition among the Mute Swans for the nest site in the reeds east of the Lido. A pair had got in through the hole in the netting, but were forced out by the other swans glaring and pecking at them from outside. They were chased away by the pair 4FYY and 4FUF, who seem to be the leading contenders for the site.

The swans are much less keen on the nest basket that has been installed for them nearby. There was a pair on it, but as usual they only stayed for a short time. And I have never seen a swan on either of the other two new baskets.

This male, 4FYF, was preening by the place in the reeds at the Serpentine outflow where a pair successfully nested last year, though they only raised a single cygnet.

Sad to say, the Egyptian Geese have lost one gosling and are down to seven. They have been exceptional parents but it's a very dangerous place.

Joan Chatterley was at Battersea Park, where she found a single pair of Mandarins.

Last summer there were plenty of them, but when I visited the park a couple of months ago there were none to be seen. Mandarins are often missed, as they spend a lot of time in the bushes. I haven't seen the Serpentine pair for a while either.

She also got a very pleasing picture of a Seven-Spot Ladybird on a violet ...

... and saw a Brimstone butterfly. One has also been seen in Hyde Park.

Little Owl and the first butterfly

The male Little Owl appeared unexpectedly in the old chestnut tree by the Serpentine Gallery where he was hatched last year.

As I left he flew away, heading for the tree by the Queen's Temple where a pair of Little Owls have been seen in recent months. He wasn't in sight when I passed this tree, but this shows that the male here really is the one from the Serpentine Gallery.

A female Greenfinch could be seen in a tree north of Peter Pan ...

... and two Long-Tailed Tits were flitting about in the top twigs.

I was photographing one of the Coal Tits in the corkscrew hazel in the Dell when the other appeared out of focus in the background. The chance of getting both of these highly active birds in focus in the same picture is close to zero.

A Blue Tit looked out from the same bush.

A Great Tit perched in cherry blossom in the Rose Garden ...

... and the familiar male Chaffinch was waiting on another branch.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge sang in a pussy willow.

This Robin in the Flower Walk is one of the regular customers and took three pine nuts from my hand.

The female at Mount Gate came out when called.

The Goldcrest at the northwest corner of the bridge was visible again today.

One of the young Grey Herons in the nest on the island was getting its wings into good shape for when it starts flying, which won't be for some weeks yet.

Several Coots are now making nests in the Italian Garden, but I don't think they're settling down seriously.

One of the nests had been seized by an Egyptian Goose as a place to preen.

The evicted Coot sat furiously on the pavement.

The three Moorhens are holding their own against persecution by the Coots, but they probably won't try to nest here. They usually find a secluded spot in the lake under the garden, despite the risk from the local pike.

The Egyptian Geese at the east end of the Serpentine were still hanging on to their eight goslings, against all expectations in this dangerous place. One got left behind when they crossed the path to graze, and hurried to catch up with the others.

The first butterfly of the year, a Peacock, was drinking nectar from a paperbush flower in the Dell.