The first young Robin

This is the first young Robin I've seen this year. It was in the shrubbery in the Rose Garden.

Parents collected insects for it in the oak tree above.

Another fine picture from Neil of a Robin feeding his mate in the Flower Walk.

A Wren chittered in a flower bed.

A Greenfinch appeared for a moment in the top of the holly near the bridge.

A Grey Wagtail used the plastic buoys around the Lido swimming area as a hunting station.

A Grey Heron wandered through a bluebell patch beside the Long Water.

The Coots' nest mysteriously built far out in the Serpentine is now complete. It's in deeper water than the one at the Dell restaurant, at least 5 feet, and how the Coots managed to move the waterlogged branches to support it is a complete mystery. I do notice that several large branches which were lying on the bottom near the edge have now gone, presumably to the nest.

After several days' trying I managed to get a mediocre picture of the three Coot chicks in the nest south of Peter Pan. The blur in the foreground is one of the parents diving.

The single Coot chick on the other side is still in good order.

The picture reminded me of the famous portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in front of the launching chains of the Great Eastern. Perhaps it's appropriate, as Coots are notable for their construction skills.

A Mallard with new ducklings on the Serpentine strangely chose the Mute Swans' nest east of the Lido as a place to rest. The female swan dozing on her eggs didn't mind,  but it must have been another story when the aggressive male came home.

A clump of bugloss near the bridge attracted a Hairy-Footed Flower Bee, whose very long proboscis is adapted for flowers much deeper than this.

A very small bee was at work on Mexican Orange blossom in the Rose Garden. It looked very like a Honeybee but was less than two thirds of the size. I've put up two pictures an an attempt to identify it.

Update: Conehead 54 thinks it might be a Short-Fringed Mining Bee, Andrena dorsata, but isn't sure.

The long flowering pink Rugosa rose is now in bloom. It wasn't attracting any bees yet, as they have more rewarding flowers at the moment, but there was a tiny fly.

Update: Conehead 54 has positively identified this as a hoverfly, Melanostoma scalare.

The bizarre Chilean Rhubarb near the Italian Garden started to sprout leaves a couple of weeks ago, but they were destroyed by a late frost. Now it's having another try. The brown cones are flowers.