Furious screaming from the leaf yard revealed that the Tawny owlets had flown into it and were being harassed by a couple of Jays. They had come right down the hill, almost to the lakeside path. One stood its ground in the fork of a tall birch tree, gazing at me with huge black eyes ...

... and another retreated into a place where it was better covered by the leaves.

I didn't see the third one clearly, there was just movement deep inside the tree.

The male Little Owl was only a few yards away in his usual chestnut tree, taking no notice of the rumpus.

While I was at the place farther up the hill where the female Tawny Owl was yesterday, I saw this male Blackbird digging a hole in the leafmould under the plane trees. He was hauling out a rich harvest of small worms.

He was not eating them on the spot, a sign that he is feeding a fledgeling somewhere in the area. After a minute he flew away with his haul.

The eldest pair of Egyptian Geese on the Long Water have discovered rather belatedly that the water weed is palatable.

It has taken all the waterfowl quite a long time to realise that this stuff can be eaten.

Nearby, a Great Crested Grebe found another purpose for the weed, and was looking for small fish sheltering under it.

This is the male of the pair nesting in the dead willow tree near the Italian Garden.

And still in the same place, the Mute Swans' seven cygnets are beginning to get quite large, and at last their useless little wings are beginning to develop. But it will be months before they are flying.