After a stormy night it was a wet and windy day. The male Tawny Owl had decided to spend it indoors, and who can blame him? But it was sad to miss him. I went back twice to see if he had come out.

The wind has blown a lot of dead leaves up to the top of the Long Water, forming a mat. A pair of Great Crested Grebes, knowing that fish like to shelter in such places, were exploring it.

This Grey Heron on a nest on the island was also looking windblown.

This is a different nest from the one I photographed yesterday, so it seems that the general interest in nesting is continuing.

A tree near the bridge bore a heavy crop of Ring-Necked Parakeets, looking absurdly conspicuous in the absence of leaves to blend into.

The Shovellers had taken shelter from the wind in the lee of the Serpentine island; probably rough water spoils their feeding technique. Not only they were shovelling; so were some Mallards and a male Pochard, and even a Canada Goose was having a go.

None of them will have fed as effectively as the Shovellers, whose huge bills contain ingenious filters to extract small creatures from the water.

The belligerent Mute Swans from the Long Water went under the bridge to harass swans on the Serpentine, and drove them up to the Lido. This caused a general outbreak of violence as the other swans were pressed uncomfortably close together.

Johanna van de Woestijne, a photographer from California who often comes over and visits the park, saw my pictures of gulls playing with leaves and other objects, and has sent a fine picture of a Californian gull carrying a bit of seaweed around.

She thinks it's a first-winter Glaucous-Winged Gull, Larus glaucescens. I have compared pictures on the web, and it looks as if she's right.

The Redwings were still on the Parade Ground, though heavily outnumbered by a large and noisy mob of Starlings.