The family of Great Crested Grebes from the west end of the Serpentine island came within camera range, though it is not a good place for pictures, with the island casting a shadow and the ugly wire plant baskets in the background. Here the father carries the chicks while the mother brings a feather, a necessary part of grebes' diet because of the spiky bones in the fish they eat.

The family of Coots from the net near the Lido have done very well: three eggs hatched and the three chicks are now teenagers and likely to survive to adulthood. This is due to the excellent shelter provided by the net over their nest site. What a contrast with the poor Coots in the Italian Garden, who have lost two broods almost immediately because of a lack of cover. It is the intelligent Coots whose offspring survive, so probably in a few thousand years they will have taken over the world while humans creep around in the undergrowth.

The three Greylag goslings were enjoying a splash on the edge of the lake. They copy their mother: when she starts washing, so do they.

Behind the Lido, the gardeners have carefully tilled and planted what they hoped was going to be a flower bed, fenced it off and hung up notices saying that it was for 'Half-Hardy Annuals'. They didn't reckon with the vigour of British weeds, which sprang up at once, and are so thick that you can't tell whether there are any intentional plants at all. They have made a pretty display of their own small and modest flowers, though you have to look closely to appreciate them.