In spite of the dank weather, the Song Thrush near the leaf yard was singing cheerfully from his usual spot in an old sweet chestnut tree.

The Rose Garden is still full of Blackbirds.

Redwings fed in the rowans on Buck Hill ...

... and the resident Mistle Thrush was in one of the smaller trees.

However, I couldn't find the Little Owl. She had been seen earlier but I missed her at two visits to the tree. The second time I was pursued by a couple of hungry Jays, which probably caused her to retreat into the cover of the leaves.

A Blue Tit at the bridge unexpectedly came to my hand for the first time, a sign of how hungry the small birds are getting.

A Chaffinch looked down from a twig.

It wouldn't be a proper Christmas without a picture of a Robin. This one was in a bramble patch beside the Long Water.

Tom sent a fine picture of a Wren in the reeds at Rainham Marshes.

A female Peregrine had brought up a Feral Pigeon to the top of the Royal Lancaster Hotel at the north edge of Kensington Gardens. She flew round the tower a couple of times to make sure she wouldn't be disturbed, landed and walked along to enjoy her Christmas lunch.

She is not the Peregrine from the Knightsbridge Barracks, but a much younger bird. There has been conflict between the two pairs.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was also looking for a meal, but hadn't caught anything yet when I passed.

The Grey Heron in the Dell was fishing at the bottom of the waterfall.

A Cormorant joined another two on the swans' nesting island in the Long Water.

As darkness was falling a Great Spotted Woodpecker tapped on a tree near Queen's Gate.