Winter bumblebees

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits worked its way along the edge of the Long Water.

The Redwings were foraging on the Parade Ground.

This is the female of the pair of Blackbirds that nest every year in the Dell, usually successfully.

A Magpie looked for insects in fallen leaves but found nothing more exciting than a conker.

Herring Gulls are too heavy to stand on the plastic buoys at the Lido, and have to keep moving forward before the buoy they are on tips over. They always fall off in the end.

A pair of Black-Headed Gulls talked the talk and walked the walk.

Another found a bit of cake and looked for somewhere private to eat it without being harassed.

A third, on a post at the bridge, saw a Moorhen coming along the chain and bowed to the inevitable.

I still haven't been able to see the Grey Heron chick, but its parent was there as usual. All the other three nests were occupied.

The Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water have retaken the stolen Coot nest.

Another fished under the bridge.

A pair of Mute Swans arranged twigs at the east end of the Serpentine, ignored by a pair of Egyptian Geese. This is not a good place to nest. There are foxes in the thicket. However, this is exactly the spot where Blondie was hatched, so there's some hope.

I was photographing some crocuses in the Rose Garden when a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee strayed into the picture.

I followed it to a very fragrant rose bush and found several bumblebees that had survived the winter. There are always flowers of some kind in the Rose Garden to keep them going.

A Robin in the next bush provided the music.

Going home through Montpelier Square, the Knightsbridge abode of the ultra-rich, I heard a Coal Tit singing in a blossoming tree.