On the Serpentine, a young Lesser Black-Backed Gull was begging for food from its mother in a low, suppliant attitude, making a regular piping cry rather like a van reversing.

Some of the young Mallards are nearly adult size, though their wings are not fully developed yet. It has been a surprisingly good breeding year for Mallards, with fewer large gulls than usual.

Some young Tufted Ducks have appeared, not in the park but on the Regent's Canal in Little Venice. Tufted Ducks have not been able to breed in the park for years, losing all their very small ducklings almost at once to gulls. But the canal seems to be a much more suitable place, despite its narrowness, murky water and passing boats. Mandarin Ducks also breed well on the canal, farther east towards Regent's Park. The canal bank is unreachable by humans on the side away from the towpath, which helps to protect their nests from disturbance.

The two large broods of Egyptian Geese, one on the Serpentine and the other on the Round Pond, have stopped clustering together and are ranging around freely. Here one of them gets very ruffled by facing the wrong way in the breeze to take a drink from the Round Pond.

And here at the Lido, a Great Crested Grebe remains serenely asleep while a swimmer passes a few feet away.