A pair of Egyptian Geese were standing on the broken top of a tree near the Serpentine Gallery, honking noisily.

This is their ritual of selecting a place to nest. They fly to various trees and shout at each other until a consensus is reached. It doesn't matter how tall the tree is, as when their young are tipped out of it, the fluffy little birds will fall slowly to the ground unharmed. It is, of course, a completely inappropriate time for nesting, but Egyptian Geese come from a place where the seasons are different and they have little sense of what time of year it is in northwest Europe.

Nearby and equally out of season, a Mistle Thrush, perhaps misled by the sunshine, was singing at the top of a leafless plane tree.

Their song, though melodious, is repetitive and rather boring. They have neither the silly enthusiasm of the Song Thrush nor the careful musicianship of the Blackbird. But it is very pleasing to hear them, and a reminder that winter won't last for ever.

A slightly uncommon sight on the Serpentine: a second-winter Lesser Black-Backed Gull.

For some reason nearly all the gulls of this species that we see here are either first-year or adult. This bird is at the beginning of its transition from tweedy first-year plumage to the slaty grey back it will have later. These large gulls take four years to get their full adult plumage.

A Great Crested Grebe, in sober winter plumage, was scratching its head with a large foot.