Robins in the rain

There was rain and drizzle for several hours. A Robin in the Rose Garden sheltered under a baby sage bush.

Another thought that if it was going to get wet it might as well do it properly, and bathed in a puddle. It alternately splashed and shook itself dry, a method of washing that I've also seen in Carrion Crows and Magpies.

After the rain stopped, the Robin in the yew hedge in the Flower Walk climbed to the top and surveyed its territory with a lordly air.

A few people were on the Dell restaurant terrace sheltering under umbrellas, enough to attract some Starlings.

A Wood Pigeon lurched around in a rose bush trying to find some rose hips within reach.

I reached the Little Owl at the Round Pond before the rain started. She was on one of her usual perches in the horse chestnut tree, with the usual annoying leaf in the way.

A Carrion Crow perched on the Big Bird statue by the Diana fountain. This is part of the territory of the bossy Black-Headed Gull, but he happened to be away at the time so there was no conflict.

A pair of Black-Headed Gulls paraded side by side at the Triangle.

Pigeon Eater, in his usual place at the Dell restaurant, stood on the edge looking aggrieved. He had been driven off his latest kill by a couple photographing their little daughters, unaware that each shot featured the bloody and mangled corpse of a Feral Pigeon.

A Common Gull looked at an orange plastic buoy at the Lido. Bright colours are always interesting.

The young Grey Herons usually retire to their nest when it rains.

A pair of Moorhens at the Vista were looking for small edible things in the grass, at this time of year mostly grubs such as wireworms which are the larvae of click beetles.

Another was going through some floating leaves at the edge.

A Gadwall drake upended in the shallows to pull up strands of algae and any small water creatures that might be clinging to them.

At the far side of the Vista a pair of Shovellers rested on the gravel.

The Black Swan flew across the Round Pond, passing the spray of the water inlet.

An American red oak had a fine display of scarlet leaves.

Yew fruit

A Blackbird ate the fruit in the yew tree north of Peter Pan.

A Robin in the Flower Walk responded to another Robin's song, and scratched and flew away.

A kind diner at the Dell restaurant had put out the remains of an avocado and quinoa salad for the pigeons. They weren't madly enthusiastic about it. If it had been chips there would have been a frantic mob of pigeons.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond was in an impossible place in the horse chestnut tree. After I had been blundering around trying to find an angle for a half decent picture, she kindly called and flew to a branch where I could see her better.

I couldn't find the Little Grebe. Careful inspection of all the buoys it could have been lurking beside found only an inquisitive young Herring Gull pecking at the orange plastic.

One of the three youngest Grey Herons was on a plane tree across the water from the Serpentine island ...

... another was in the next tree ...

... and the third was in the nest staring at them.

Two pairs of Great Crested Grebes were having a territorial dispute at the bridge. This female is now completely in monochrome winter plumage.

The other pair were displaying to each other, as they do during these confrontations to show solidarity. 

Shovellers usually feed on the surface, scooping up water and filtering it through their enormous bills to extract small edible items. But when there isn't enough on the surface they change their style, and upend and dabble like Mallards. These were on the Round Pond.

Three Cormorants formed a sinister group on the fallen black poplar in the Long Water.

One of the foxes in the Dell chased a squirrel, which escaped up a tree. The fox looked hungrily at it ...

... realised there was nothing it could do, and found a comfortable sunlit patch of dead leaves to settle down and have a rest.

A Small White butterfly browsed on a catmint flower in the Rose Garden.

A Common Darter dragonfly landed on the path at Peter Pan for a moment, just long enough for one not too good shot.

I had been photographing the roots of the Lombardy poplar here, which leans over the lake at a perilous angle. The roots are infected with Poplar Fieldcap mushrooms, whose mycelium spreads white rot through the wood. I've been waiting for years for the roots to snap and the tree to crash into the lake, but it's hanging on doggedly.

Crow bathing

A Carrion Crow bathed in the Serpentine. They like to wash in short snatches, shaking off the water in between, before they flap soggily off to a branch to preen and dry properly.

A Jackdaw on the shore was looking expectant.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond was kept in her hole by morning rain but came out on the horse chestnut in the afternoon.

The male Chaffinch in the Rose Garden was rootling in the fallen leaves. Hecame out for a pine nut.

A Common Gull perched on the buoys at the Lido.

A Cormorant at the island jumped on to a post.

That filled all the posts except one, which had a young Grey Heron on it. Another Cormorant chased it off.

The heron landed on the shore, looking annoyed.

The Moorhen at the Vista was relieved to find that the visiting heron had gone, and reclaimed its place on the bush.

The female Great Crested Grebe on the Long Water was fishing in the turbulence under the waterspouts on the edge of the Italian Garden. She caught several fish ...

... and brought some of them to a waiting chick.

The Little Grebe on the Round Pond lurked by a plastic buoy.

A female Common Pochard dived busily at the bridge. They are omnivorous, eating water plants, invertebrates and small fish, and this place is a hatchery for perch.

Two female Tufted Ducks preening on the shore were rudely interrupted by a Canada Goose.

Joan Chatterley found twenty Mandarins in Battersea Park, with the drakes already in their fantastic breeding plumage. We don't have any at the moment.

It was quite chilly, but a few hardy Buff-Tailed Bumblebees were out on the oxeye daisies in the Rose Garden.

There was a Horse Mushroom on the edge of the shrubbery.

A blocked drain on the Parade Ground called down the Wrath of Poseidon.

The drain clearing company Hydro Cleansing has several splendidly painted lorries two of which have classical themes. The other features the Hydra, but I've only seen this from a distance and never got a proper picture.

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.