There is a second Coot nest in the fountains in the Italian Garden. This time the birds have built it on top of the spray head, artfully avoiding getting blasted with the full force of the water, though they are still wet with spray.

Meanwhile, the first nest, under the spray head, has eggs in it. It will be very difficult for the sitting bird to keep them warm in a maelstrom of cold water.

Just under the marble fountain, in the Long Water, the incompetent Egyptian parents were embarking on yet another doomed brood.

They have had about twenty since they came to the park, I think nine years ago -- they were the first Egyptians to arrive. They have bred two or sometimes three times a year, and the only one of their offspring to survive to date is the one that has been adopted by the fami;ly on the Serpentine. I saw these today and all are well; the other brood on the Serpentine is also intact.

The lame Moorhen that sits on the path near the small boathouses is recovering. It is only running with a slight limp now.

In the thicket on the east side of the Long Water, two Willow Warblers were singing at each other.

The male Little Owl was sitting outside his nest hole, and looked at me imperturbably while I capered about trying to get a clear shot through the branches.

The male Tawny Owl was still in the tree next to his nest tree.

Several people have been searching for his family around thy crossing of the bicycle path with the path from the Albert Memorial to the Physical Energy statue. No one has yet found them.

When I was searching there I was besieged by Jackdaws demanding peanuts. You can't say no to these charming birds.