The lost restaurant

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine braved a chilly grey day and was back in her usual lime tree.

The four Jays here were constantly demanding peanuts ... 

... as were a pair of Carrion Crows in the variegated holly tree near the Vista ...

... and the Magpies by the Henry Moore sculpture.

The Coal Tit at the bridge is becoming bolder, and collected three pine nuts. It's getting better at dodging through the crowd of larger birds. Its mate is still lurking shyly in the bushes.

The Robin was ticking crossly at the spectacle, but had time to come out for a pine nut.

Only one Great Tit now appears in the Rose Garden, though I occasionally see a Blackbird and a Wren skulking in the flower beds. The thoughtless destruction of the shrubbery has turned the area from a haven for at least fifty small birds into a desert.

The young Grey Heron at the bridge was by the Triangle, begging for snacks from the passers by.

Pigeon Eater had dined and was resting on the roof of the Dell restaurant.

This restaurant was originally one of two futuristic buildings, both designed by Patrick Gwynne and completed in 1964. The other was the Serpentine Restaurant, which stood at the southeast corner of the bridge. It was built on a ground plan of nested hexagons, and featured hexagonal roof canopies. The services were placed underneath to give diners a good view, and it had a car park unobtrusively sunk into the ground. It was demolished in 1990 and not a trace remains. There is a page with more information and pictures here.

The Dell Restaurant, as it was then officially called, was built at the opposite corner of the lake. It was declared Grade II in 1995 and was restored a few years ago.

A Black-Headed Gull eyed a Moorhen picking algae off the marble fountain on the edge of the Italian Garden.

The Cormorants have now mostly left the lake after eating almost all the medium-sized fish. One remained on the Long Water, fishing by the reed beds under the Italian Garden. It swam past Peter Pan playing with a reed stem.

The teenage Great Crested Grebe is still fishing in the reeds, evidently with success as it shows no sign of leaving.

One of the young grebes at the bridge was fishing around the baskets ...

... while the other noisily chased its mother under the bridge.

The Moorhen in the Dell is alone again. None of its attachments seem to last more than a few weeks.

The smallest young Egyptian Goose was also alone, and I've seen it by itself several times in the past few days. Are the other Egyptians bullying it?

The Black Swan and 4GIQ hurried over for their daily issue of sunflower hearts.

When the wind is in the east, 'tis neither good for man nor beast

A chilly day with a biting east wind brought out hungry small birds. There were mobs of Great Tits ...

... and Blue Tits in the Flower Walk ...

... and the Robin at Peter Pan took three pine nuts.

Jays waited in a holly tree by the Vista.

A young Lesser Black-Backed Gull on the edge of the Serpentine lay down to avoid being buffeted by the wind.

A pair of Herring Gulls waved leaves at each other and called in a bonding ritual.

Black-Headed Gulls washed and preened together on the edge of the Serpentine.

The young Grey Heron at the southeast corner of the bridge stared fixedly at a woman on a bench. Usually if people have food this makes them throw down a morsel, but she didn't have any so it was disappointed.

A heron stood on the swan nesting basket east of the Lido. No swans nested here so the basket remains in fair shape, unlike the one on the other side of the lake which was completely trashed by the Black Swan and 4GIQ.

The number of Cormorants continues to fall, but the one in the Italian Garden was still trying its luck in the pools. Probably it will fly back to the river soon.

The Great Crested Grebe teenager was fishing in the reeds below the parapet.

This is the first time I've seen one of the young grebes at the bridge catch a fish. In fact it got two in five minutes, so it's now fit for independent life. This was filmed over the wire baskets at the bridge, which are filled with twigs to make a perch hatchery.

Three female Common Pochards dived together at a distance from the drakes to avoid being bothered by them. Girls' clubs are also common in other duck species.

The Pochards under the trees farther down the lake are almost all male.

A squirrel in the Dell ate yew fruit next to a Stinking Iris. I've examined one of these plants and to my dull human nose it doesn't smell bad, but evidently the fruit is unpalatable as I've never seen anything eating it.

The Rose Garden is fairly well shielded from the wind, and a few tough insects were out. A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee browsed on a clump of blue sage ...

... and there were several Common Wasps in the autumn-flowring camellia.

Jay taking peanuts in flight

Jays don't always succeed when they fly down to grab a peanut from your fingers. This one missed the first time and had to do a go-around.

A Jay looked out from the ginger autumn needles of a swamp cypress by the Italian Garden.

It was a cheerless day of intermittent drizzle, but that didn't stop the Jackdaws beside the Serpentine from coming out to apply for peanuts.

At the Buck Hill shelter one of the Magpie pair had got a peanut and the other was waiting for service.

A Blackbird in the Flower Walk paused on a yew hedge before flying down to look for worms brought up by the rain.

A flock of Starlings worked over the grass beside the Round Pond looking for wireworms. These are the larvae of click beetles and eat the roots of plants, so the numerous and efficient birds are improving the lawn.

The Coal Tit at the southwest corner of the bridge is now a regular customer. It mate is interested but timid. It may join the party soon.

The Great Tits in the Dell have no hesitation, and there are now four of them. This one was in a bearberry bush.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was out for a while, but later retired to her hole to keep dry.

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker could be seen at a distance on a dead tree on the island.

The Big Bird statue by the Diana fountain has just been cleaned and polished to make a fitting throne for the dominant Black-Headed Gull.

A Grey Heron walked through a blue landscape of electric pedalos at the charging platform. These craft have little resemblance to boats, looking more like 1950s sofas.

The Coots have not yet rebuilt their nest on the wire baskets at the bridge, which lasted for years till it was destroyed by refilling the baskets with twigs. A Grey Heron stood on the site looking for fish in the gaps.

This is almost certainly the same heron that I saw at the other end of the bridge facing off a pair of Carrion Crows.

The Great Crested Grebe family at the bridge are now ranging over the lake, and it's unusual to get all of them in the same picture.

A Mute Swan sneaked under the bridge to the Long Water ...

... unnoticed by the boss and his mate, who were dozing with their teenager on the gravel strip.

Digging for ants

One of the pair of Green Woodpeckers on Buck Hill was digging up an ants' nest.

Ahmet Amerikali found a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in her usual tree facing the wrong way, but addressing her in courteous tones made her look round.

A Jackdaw by the Italian Garden sidled up delicately hinting that it would like a peanut. They are the politest of corvids.

Jays just stare at you till you comply. This was one of four chasing me along the Flower Walk, and perched in the corkscrew hazel bush.

One of the Coal Tit pair at the southwest corner of the bridge is getting quite bold about coming to my hand.

They are completely unfazed by the attempts of the Robin to bully them out of the tree.

The Robin at the Lido restaurant is also getting more familiar. It came out from under a bush and accepted some pine nuts dropped on the ground.

Pigeon Eater and one of the Herring Gull pair on the Dell restuarant roof were being surprisingly civil to each other.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull had the landing stage to himself without the intrusion of the the Herring Gull, but no doubt it will be back. The place is an ideal perch, separated by a fence from from humans and dogs.

The Czech gull that dominates the other end of the Serpentine came ashore with a morsel snatched from the Dell restaurant.

The number of Cormorants is going down earlier than usual this year, as they have efficiently hoovered up most of the medium-sized fish in the lake. This is their favourite branch at the west end of the island, chosen because it's open and easy for these clumsy birds to land on.

The young Great Crested Grebe at the north end of the Long Water is still keeping to itself by the reed beds.

This young Mute Swan at the Triangle is a newcomer to the Serpentine, though it may have been on the Round Pond after it flew in. It has a metal ring, not one of Bill Haines's as he always puts on a plastic ring as well. It's a British ring and I've reported the number, so maybe we'll be able to find out where it's from.

The teenager from the Long Water went under the bridge, following its father who was going on to the Serpentine to beat up some of the other swans.

Mute Swans are not absolutely mute, and the other two teenagers preening sociably together by the boathouse managed a few muffled grunts and squeaks.

Despite the chilly day and sharp northeast wind, a tough Buff-Tailed Bumblebee was still at work on baby sage flowers in the Rose Garden.

A Japanese maple at the southeast corner of the bridge had a fine display of red leaves.