The Long-Tailed Tits in the Rose Garden are still bringing in feathers to line their nest, but work is slowing down. When I left, one of the birds had been sitting in the nest for ten minutes. It looks as if they are settling down to lay some tiny eggs.

A Dunnock sang a couple of phrases on a nearby twig.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker visited the feeder, but only stayed for a moment because the gardeners were busy in the shrubbery. So here is a picture taken of him yesterday by Tom.

A Magpie at the Lido restaurant inspected the leftovers of plate of fish and chips. It ignored the lemon, which all birds hate, but had a go at the mushy peas.

This is the Carrion Crow who amuses himself by bashing me on the head, recognisable by his faded wings. He had found a bit of muffin, so he left me alone for once.

The injured Grey Heron was not in the usual place in the Dell, and may have been caught by Hugh already. Its place was taken by a very grubby bird. Many of the herons on the lake are a bit tatty, but this one had really let itself go.

The heron nesting on the south side of the island was poking around, but I still haven't managed to see a chick.

Most of the Cormorants that recently visited the Long Water have left again, but one was still diving industriously under the marble fountain. It didn't catch anything while I was watching.

More Lesser Black-Backed Gulls have flown in, and there were six on the posts at Peter Pan.

Every year a pair of Coot build a nest on the net around the reed bed east of the Lido. A hole has been cut so that they can come inside the net and nest in safety from the gulls, but they never grasp the idea.

The Mute Swans on the island have started arranging twigs for a nest. This can go on for some time before they find the best place and start nesting in earnest.

Another pair had found an absolutely terrible place in the open at the end of the Lido swimming area. They'll probably abandon it soon enough.

A visit to the Round Pond to check on the Black Swan ...

... found Blondie the Egyptian Goose. She flies up to join the other Egyptians here from time to time, but never stays long and returns to her familiar place on the Serpentine.