A very wet day

It rained steadily all day. Blackbirds love rain, as it brings up worms. I filmed this male for a minute, hoping he'd find one, but he and I were disappointed.

Another Blackbird was more successful.

A Dunnock beside the Long Water didn't feel the need to shelter ...

... and a Robin sang cheerfully.

The rain kept most people out of the park, but someone had put out an apple for the Rose-Ringed Parakeets, which a Carrion Crow took over. I went past twice and this was the second time when the crow had eaten most of it.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull took the opportunity of damp feathers to do a bit of preening.

So did another Lesser Black-Back a few feet away, but the pigeon eater was too busy to chase it away. This is a gull of the very dark kind typically found on the European mainland, while most British Lesser Black-Backs including our friend are paler.

A Black-Headed Gull brought a 'rat-tailed maggot' -- a large hoverfly larva -- ashore and washed it in a puddle before eating it. Occasionally it dropped it and accidentally picked up a rotted oak leaf instead.

A Grey Heron parent arrived at the nest and one of the chicks reached out hopefully.

The lack of people and dogs allowed a Moorhen ...

... and a Coot to come ashore and prospect for food in the grass.

Another Coot had started a nest in a futile place near the Diana fountain landing stage, where no nest has ever succeeded.

Diving birds such as Great Crested Grebes ...

... and Tufted Ducks just don't get wet.

For the bullying male Mute Swan on the Serpentine it was business as usual.

My two Finnish photographer friends Jukka and Petteri will be coming to London in March, as they can now that the panic has largely died down. Jukka sent a beautiful picture of a Kingfisher, a bird we don't see nearly enough of in the park.

Petteri has started a collection of beers named after birds, for which I am sure you already know the Finnish is olutbissebongaus. Among British beers and ales I know Morland's Old Speckled Hen range brewed in Abingdon; Lacon's Falcon Ale from Great Yarmouth; ales from the Eagle brewery in Bedford which include Eagle IPA; Wild Swan, a pale ale made by the Thornbridge brewery in Yorkshire; and a whole range of ales called after swans made by the Swan brewery in Leominster, including a stout called Black Swan and an amber ale called Ruffled Feathers. Can readers suggest any others, not necessarily British?

Update: Petteri tells me that a better term for this activity is lintubissebongaus, literally 'bird beer watching'. The British web site mentioned by Abigail in the comments below shows that it's a thing here too. Many thanks to all who sent in a splendid quantity of names.