The lakeside corner of the Olympic zone near the island, still fenced off but now empty and neglected, has become a place for all kinds of waterfowl to rest on the shore undisturbed. As you can see, they have made their own contribution to the mess. The male Common Pochards have got through their late summer moult and are now looking smart again, well ahead of the larger ducks such as Mallards and Red Crested Pochards which are still in eclipse. The male Tufted Ducks are also still looking very dowdy.

The Moorhens in the Dell, who have bred twice this year, have just one surviving chick. Although this place is reasonably safe from large gulls, the resident Grey Heron takes a terrible toll. It doesn't just eat chicks, but has a go at adults too, as you can see in my post for 8 April.

Some of the young Egyptian Geese from the Serpentine had come on to the Long Water and were trying to grab pieces of bread tat people were throwing to the ducks by the Peter Pan statue.

Soon there will be so many Black-Headed Gulls that they will snatch all the food before it touches the water. Well, bread is not good for waterfowl anyway.

In a thicket near the Rima relief, some Speckled Wood butterflies were chasing each other. The butterfly season has been late and scanty this year because of the cold and rain earlier in the season.