Mute Swan eggs

Blackcaps are singing all round the Long Water. This one was on the dead tree next to the bridge.

A Chaffinch sang on a nearby horse chestnut tree.

A Coal Tit came out on the cedar behind the Albert Memorial.

A Robin bringing midges for its nestlings had a careful look around to make sure no predators were watching before flying down to the nest in the brambles.

A female Great Spotted Woodpecker climbed up a very small tree, no more than a sapling, on Buck Hill. You expect woodpeckers to be on large trees pecking at the bark, but probably there are insects to be had in the sprouting leaves.

Neil got a most unexpected picture yesterday: a Redwing still in Kensington Gardens. Probably this is the solitary remaining one that Tom photographed here on 29 March, and I last saw in the same place on the 17th.

Pied Wagtails are often found in the area northwest of the Serpentine called the Cockpit, and there were three today. This is where the Olympic grandstand was in 2012. Afterwards the place where it had been was remade with good topsoil and expensive sports turf, so there are more insects and worms in it than in the scrubby grass elsewhere, and the Wagtails know about this.

Incidentally, Pied Wagtails don't wag their tails all that much, unlike Grey Wagtails which wag frantically all the time they are on the ground.

The Tawny Owl was in his usual place. A day wouldn't be complete without seeing him.

One of the Great Crested Grebes from the willow near the bridge heard the grebes on the Serpentine disputing their territories, and came under the bridge to add its voice.

There are now four pairs of grebes on the Serpentine and three pairs on the Long Water.

The Mute Swans on the Long Water now have two eggs. The male was guarding the nesting island and pecked irritably at a Coot.

A closer look at the eggs. No doubt there will be more soon.

I think the swans at the east end of the Lido must have eggs too, because the female has been on the nest continuously for several days.

The nest at the Lido restaurant terrace is still an off-and-on affair, but the male was guarding it today.

A Mandarin drake picked off low-flying midges on the Serpentine.

I couldn't find the Wigeons reported yesterday. They may well still be here, as visiting ducks tend to lurk in the bushes lining the Long Water and can be very hard to see, as with these Mandarins.