There were three male Reed Warblers in the reed bed near the Diana fountain, singing at each other fit to burst.

Of course, when there are several they sing more and are easier to find and photograph. One person reported having seen five. It is reasonable to think that the other two are female, and there may be even more of them.

The Blackbirds seem to have stopped singing for this year, but there are still several Song Thrushes in action. This is the usual one was near Peter Pan, who was singing so loudly that while I was photographing him, two people asked me what it was.

It is slightly sad that people don't recognise the song of such a familiar bird, but at least they were interested.

The Little Owl was visible in his usual tree. Still no sign of owlets but, as someone pointed out, it is quite possible that they have been out for some time and we just haven't been able to see them. There is no reason why the male owl should desert his usual perch just because he has children.

I went around the Tawny Owls' nest tree and there was no sign of them, not surprisingly. But I did find a fresh pellet under the tree containing grey feathers, the sign of some unfortunate nestling having become an owl's lunch. There were also green-tipped feathers lying around, showing that a Ring-Necked Parakeet had met its end, but this was clearly a later incident and it may have been some other bird that had killed it. There is a Sparrowhawk that hunts in this area, and one often finds what A.E. Housman would have called feathery deaths and many shipwrecks of birds.

The single Great Crested Grebe chick from the west end of the Serpentine island was struggling on to its father's back. It is really too large to be carried about any more, but as an only child it is indulged.

The two young Pied Wagtails were out with one of their parents on the shore to the east of the Lido. One stood on the netting calling for food, but the other went hunting. It is not at all shy, and ran around inches from my feet, allowing a close-up shot.

The shore is covered with the moulted wing feathers of Greylag Geese.