A cloudy day with an autumnal chill in the air. This is the view from the Italian Garden on to the Long Water. The broken stonework has recently been restored, and the goddesses holding spouting cornucopias look pleased with their fine new arms.

The Great Crested Grebes nesting in the reeds near the Serpentine outflow have hatched at least one chick. I waited for some time trying to see more, but didn't. With luck, the young bird should be independent and flying before the end of November. Sorry about the low resolution of this very long shot.

The family by the bridge are growing fast, but still dependent on their parents. This young grebe had been mercilessly pestering his father for food, but had to be content with a feather. Grebes do need to eat feathers to protect their insides from fishbones, but it was not the juicy fish it had hoped for.

There is a family of Blackbirds halfway between the Peter Pan statue and the Italian Garden, and their three young have just become independent and are foraging for themselves. Here one of the young birds, on the left, has just found some small creature in the grass.

A Little Owl has been heard calling in the leaf yard several times in recent days. But the thick leaves make it impossible to see anything. With the coming of winter we might get a few sightings of these lovely birds.