The invading Egyptian Geese have now definitely seized the Grey Herons' nest on the Serpentine island.

The male of the pair was under the nest, preening complacently.

There was no sign of activity on the upper nest. But a heron flew into the nest on the other side of the island. It stood there without a sitting heron greeting it, so evidently there are no eggs in the nest. This distant picture was taken from the far shore of the lake.

The Grey Heron colony here has always been a hit-and-miss affair, and often produces no young at all, unlike the larger colony in Regent's Park and the small but surprisingly successful one in Battersea Park.

There is also an Egyptian nesting in a crack in a tree north of the Round Pond. You can just see part of her back. She has been using this tree for several years, breeding twice a year. (Insert Duracell joke here.)

The oversized Greylag with a white forehead has been going around with another Greylag for some time, and evidently they are mates.

A pair of Mandarins could be seen on the posts at Peter Pan.

The Moorhen on the Mute Swans' little island stays firmly in place, and the swans don't seem to mind it. Swans dislike Coots, but see no threat from Moorhens.

Most of the Cormorants have left, having hoovered up all the available fish. Just one has stayed on the Serpentine, in its strange breeding plumage but with no mate in sight.

A Herring Gull on the Serpentine was exchanging fond calls with a mate who looked distinctly under age.

The Little Owl near the Henry Moore sculpture was at the front of her hole.

Robins are singing at each other all over the Rose Garden, and there are at least two couples.

The Blackbirds in the park have only started singing in a tentative way.

But I have one outside my window who wakes up at 3am and sings loudly for hours.

A single Long-Tailed Tit appeared in a tree beside the Long Water. It was probably one of a pair with its mate out of sight.

It's time to look out for them carrying strands of spider web, buts of moss and feathers to build their complex spherical nests.

The new turf on the Parade Ground is laid from big rolls with great speed and accuracy, in a way rather like rolling out a red carpet as a visiting grandee alights from a train. The tractor has to go backwards so that the driver can see that the edge of the turf meets the previous strip exactly.

Several Pied Wagtails were running around the place where the turf was being unrolled, ignoring the speeding tractor.