Two Grey Heron nests on the island are now occupied and busy. This is the higher one, with two birds in it.

The lower one had one sitting heron, whose head could be seen from time to time over the rim of the nest. The other one was up in a tree gathering twigs.

It's always a surprise to see what thin twigs these large birds can perch on.

The young Herring Gulls are often seen playing with twigs, dropping them in the water and retrieving them. This one, seen at a distance over the Serpentine, had progressed to the next stage of the game, dropping a twig and catching it in midair.

This play teaches them essential skills in what is grandly called kleptoparasitism -- that is, stealing other birds' food. Any bird seen carrying food is chased and harried until it drops the food, and the gull then dives to retrieve it before it hits the ground -- or, of course, before another gull catches it.

The Black Swan was getting very ardent with his girlfriend. She seemed confused. She is very young and doesn't know what to do.

The diving work (whatever it is) at the east end of the Serpentine continues, and the disturbance has driven large numbers of Mute Swans on to the Long Water, too many for the resident pair to cope with. The insurgents were milling around in a random and occasionally violent manner all over the lake. Here a couple of males try to face each other down on the Long Water side of the bridge.

Unaffected by all this, an Egyptian Goose was enjoying a wash.

I couldn't find any Redwings. But there were some Mistle Thrushes on Buck Hill.

The familiar Green Woodpecker was on a tree near the allotment.

Now that the Wrens have started singing seriously, it is amazing how many there are of them this year. This one was on the south shore of the Serpentine near the bridge, in the shadow of the bushes.

There was a Dunnock on the path near the Italian Garden.

Only one Little Owl could be seen today, the one in the oak near the Albert Memorial, having a bit of a preen.