It's months since there were any Gadwall on the lake, so it was good to see a pair at the Serpentine island.

The distinctive white 'sugar cube' marking on their folded wings, caused by white tertial feathers, is clearly visible. This makes it easy to tell a female Gadwall from a female Mallard, which has iridescent blue rather than white here.

A Great Crested Grebe and a Coot were having a face-off near the bridge, for no apparent reason except that these species thoroughly dislike each other.

The Coot was dislodged from the chain on which it was standing, and the grebe swam around it under water in a menacing fashion which made it very nervous, until eventually it fled.

The latest additions to the regular park birds, the four Jackdaws, were moving around briskly between the Speke obelisk and the Italian Garden.

We lost our original population of Jackdaws in 1969. They lived in the elm trees which were killed by Dutch elm disease in that year.

A Jay was looking for worms and bugs among the dead leaves near the Tawny Owls' nest tree.

And the male Tawny Owl was on his balcony, having a good scratch.

No one I spoke to had seen the female owl today, and we hope she is in the tree sitting on eggs.

This Nuthatch, in a characteristic head-down posture, is anchored securely to the twig by its very long curved claws.