Three Nuthatches came down to the edge of the leaf yard to take nuts from the fence.

The yew tree between Peter Pan and the Italian Garden was thronged with Ring-Necked Parakeets eating the berries.

The male Little Owl was perched just above last year's nest hole, giving a fine view of his wonderful yellow eyes.

His mate was high up in the other chestnut tree, peering shyly through the leaves. She was in a calm mood today and stayed there while I took photographs.

A Grey Heron was scratching its ear near Peter Pan.

The Black Swan was near the Lido restaurant. The Mute Swans were keeping a safe distance from this bad-tempered creature.

But just twenty yards away, two of them were clearly in love.

They will have to wait till next spring before they can enter the tough competition for a nest site.

These two young Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water can't have been apart for more than ten minutes, but when they met again they went through the whole greeting ritual of head-shaking. Grebes clearly enjoy these courtesies, and later they will play a vital role in keeping a pair together.

When I saw these ducks 150 yards away on the far side of the Long Water I had high hopes that the one at bottom centre was the female Wigeon who was here a couple of days ago.

But in fact I think she is a female Shoveller in a position which makes her look smaller than usual. One thinks of Wigeon as being small ducks and Shovellers as medium-sized. But in fact the average difference in their length is only an inch.