A flock of Pied Wagtails has been near the Round Pond for some time, but running around the edge of the water and hunting for insects in the grass.

This picture was taken on the edge of the bicycle route. The birds are not in the least bothered by people on bicycles, whom they regard as busy and therefore harmless, but they are shy of people on foot and of the movement of raising a camera. If you stand still for ten minutes they stop worrying and will come quite close if that is where the hunt leads them.

There have not been many Chaffinches in the leaf yard recently. There used to be two males that would come to my hand, but one has died and the other has apparently wandered off somewhere. The females are shyer, but this one was bold enough to come to the railings for some food, and I hope she will lose her fear in time.

It was the Blackbirds' turn to feed on the rowan trees on Buck Hill. This is the female of a family that has raised one youngster this year, and they are based in the flower bed around the children's playground. All three were in the tree when I took this picture.

The male Little Owl appeared in his usual sweet chestnut tree. He looks fiercer and more beetle-browed than the female, illustrated here yesterday, who my girlfriend rightly said had the same look as Princess Diana.

As I came down to the Long Water there was a commotion of wingbeats and eight Mute Swans laboured into the air and climbed to fly over the bridge. They had been chased off by the resident male, who will not tolerate any rivals on his lake.

Nearby, three Great Crested Grebe chicks ere giving their father a hard time as their mother went off to find yet another fish for these insatiable young birds.