The elusive Little Grebe appeared again on the Long Water. It was trying to fish under the willow tree near the Italian Garden, but its space was invaded by two adult Great Crested Grebes and two chicks, and a Cormorant, so it rapidly retreated into the middle of the lake, too far away for a good picture.

The Great Crested Grebe chicks were practising their adult dance, and one of them had found a plastic bottle cap and was waving it at the other.

The basic moves seem to be hard-wired into a grebe's brain, but when they grow up and find mates they will have to practise together to get the ceremony right.

One of the Green Woodpeckers who are long-term residents of Buck Hill came out into the grass to look for insects, which the recent mowing has made easier to find. It was so busy that it took no notice of four people starting at it, which is most unusual for these shy birds.

As I approached the Little Owls' trees there was a cry of owl fury and one of the birds rushed through the leaves. It had been annoyed by a Jay. I gave the Jay a peanut, which it took away, and waited for the owl to settle down. After a few minutes it reappeared in the tree next to the nest tree; it was the male, so he calmly allowed me to take pictures.

There were still quite a few dragonflies around the willow tree, and in fact they were in the place where the Little Grebe first appeared, so it may have been trying to catch them as they flew low over the water, which is something that Little Grebes are surprisingly good at. Here is a Common Darter resting on a grass stem ...

... and an Emperor. Both are brightly coloured males.

In the tunnel under the north side of the bridge, a Garden Spider had caught a wasp from the nearby nest and was slowly eating it.

Mario the fungus expert had written a comment on this blog about a large yellow Chicken of the Woods fungus on a tree near Lancaster Gate. Three people went to look for it in the place he described, but we didn't find it -- possibly someone had read the blog and collected it. But we did find a different large bracket fungus about a foot wide. I don't know what it is.