The pair of Mute Swans on the Long Water are definitely getting that springtime feeling.

Now the question is whether they are going to have the sense to nest on the island which has been so carefully made for them.

Magpies are also making a nest in a tree near the Magazine. It is a large bundle of twigs, more than they need ...

... but not as big as a Grey Heron's nest when it is finished. This pair, in the smaller of the two occupied nests on the Serpentine island, have some way to go in their building work. Both pairs of birds were on their nests, with one of them, presumably the male, coming out every few minutes to collect another twig. In this pair the bird on the right, which was staying in the nest, is young and still has a grey face.

A pair of Gadwalls was on the Serpentine again. This one is the drake, in his sober grey plumage. He doesn't get any brighter than this.

At the Dell restaurant, a Black-Headed Gull, now in full breeding plumage, had snatched a piece of toast and was wondering how to swallow it. It managed after several tries.

A Wood Pigeon was eating flower buds near the bridge.

A Green Woodpecker stayed in sight just long enough for a picture on a tree near Queen's Gate.

And the usual pair of Coal Tits followed me all the way down the edge of the leaf yard. This is the yew tree near the southwest corner, which sometimes has Goldcrests in it.

However, the male Tawny Owl hadn't emerged when I left at half past four. For the second time this month I had brought a friend to see him and the perverse bird had stayed inside his tree.