The Coots nesting near the bridge, which have only a single chick left, seem to have lost interest in it. A parent was much more interested in arranging a piece of plastic on the nest. It finally got off, fed the chick once, and swam away.

In contrast, the Coots with five chicks at Bluebird Boats are most attentive to them, which is why all five are still alive. The parents' interest in the chicks depends on their number.

Greylag Geese, the most devoted of parents, even shoo harmless pigeons away from their goslings.

And here is Blondie's mate repelling a Carrion Crow which has got too close to their single gosling. Crows are anything but harmless and may well have eaten the rest of the brood.

The Mandarin family were at Peter Pan. An Egyptian Goose attacked one of the young ones, for no visible reason. This is the female of the first pair of Egyptians to arrive on the lake over twelve years ago, the ones that are so bad at looking after their young and lose them all in a couple of days.

The Black Swan was loafing around at the east end of the Serpentine. It's impossible not to photograph this beautiful bird, but it would be more interesting if he did something.

Two young Reed Warblers came out almost to the front of the reed bed below the Diana fountain. They have not yet learnt to be wary of humans.

The two young Magpies I photographed yesterday were playing with a feather.

One of the young Carrion Crows on Buck Hill finally succeeded in shelling a peanut and extracting the nuts. Only excerpts are shown of a procedure that took at least five minutes. An adult can do this in five seconds. But it's a start.

The female Little Owl at the leaf yard was splendidly visible at the tip of her usual branch.

There was yet another young Blackbird, this time on the west side of the Long Water.

It has been a good year for Blackbirds, and the population must be well up from the all-time low of 2011 when they were almost exterminated by overzealous park management. The new contract labour is much sloppier than the old professionals, and I'm all in favour of that.

This also applies to butterflies, which thrive on weeds. Today's included a Meadow Brown drinking nectar from a thistle ...

... and a Red Admiral on a nettle.

There were many young perch, about an inch and a half long, near the wire baskets beside the bridge which were set up as a fish hatchery. The baskets are full of twigs now overgrown with algae, and this seems to provide ideal conditions for young perch.

It is these fish that the Great Crested Grebes are feeding to their young.