The young Great Tits have stopped chasing their parents through the trees begging for food, and are now foraging on their own -- or begging food from humans, of course, just as the adults do. They know that if they alight on a branch and utter a single chirp that food will be provided.

We are not really spoiling them, though. When winter comes and insects are scarce we will help them to get through.

There was a Green Woodpecker on the Vista, poking around in the grass for worms and other small invertebrates.

They are more often seen on the ground than Great Spotted Woodpeckers, which tend to stick to the safety of the trees, and are also usually seen higher up than Greens.

The Hobby family were in their usual place in the plane tree. This is the young one.

Shortly after I took this sadly distant picture -- it is a very tall tree -- it took off and the family slipped out of sight, on the far side of the tree as usual. They seem to dislike being watched, even though the watchers are many feet below them and present no threat whatever. But it would be wonderful if one of them would perch on a lower branch just long enough for a decent photograph.

A few unripe apples are falling from the tree on the north side of the Serpentine near the bridge, and rolling into the water. A Greylag Goose was pecking ineffectually at one of them with its blunt beak when a Coot seized it and rapidly bore it away before the goose could react.

It then used its sharp beak to eat the apple efficiently as it floated in the water.

More Cormorants have arrived: I counted 14 today. Some are congregating in their usual place on the posts at the northwest corner of the island.

This is where the Great Crested Grebes with two chicks had been for some days, but these have wisely left the area. I didn't see where they had gone, so it was probably round the back of the island.