Time for the monthly bird count. No great surprises, though the number of Common Pochards remains at a very high 30. As the fish in the lake grow, the number of Cormorants continues to rise, and there were 11 in all, five of them sitting together on the fallen poplar tree in the Long Water.

Two of the three young Moorhens remaining in the Italian Garden have now grown too large to get through the wire netting, though the smallest can still manage with a bit of a squeeze. They will not have much difficulty in climbing out with their big feet. Their parents stroll up the wire as if it were a completely natural part of their habitat.

The Mute Swans' eldest set of seven young have now fully grown their flight feathers and are showing the first signs of wanting to fly, though they are still only flapping briefly and making a run of a few feet. They are also realising that their big new wings are a job to look after, especially on a windy day.

The two young Robins behind the Albert Memorial are now coming out regularly to be fed, expectantly sitting on the railings of the Flower Walk. Any food thrown on the ground gets grabbed by the numerous Feral Pigeons, so they have started taking food from my hand. Several people feed the many Robins along the Flower Walk, and both adults and young birds have become quite relaxed about being fed by humans.

After yesterday's sighting of a mass of House Martins, I was expecting to find them all gone. But there were still a few flying around the Kuwaiti embassy.