Canada goslings found again

A single Goldfinch twittered in a treetop in the Rose Garden. I don't know why we get so few of these very common birds in the park.

A Blackcap sang in a tree near the Henry Moore sculpture, and came into plain sight for a moment.

Neil photographed this Wren in the same place ...

... and got another fine shot of a Robin feeding his mate in the Flower Walk.

A remarkable picture by Nick Abalov of a Great Tit hurling itself out of a hole in a gas lamp post near the Dell restaurant, inside which it is nesting. This is lamp post number 92. In past years I've seen the nearby post 88 used in the same way.

Nick reports that Blue Tits have started nesting in the tops of some of the posts, as they do every year but I haven't got a picture yet this year.

The Grey Wagtail was back in its customary place on the planters in the Italian Garden. This is one of the two surviving young from last year's nest at the Lido restaurant ...

... but the one I photographed the day before yesterday is older and has come in from outside. Mario questioned whether it was actually carrying a bundle of insects, and thought it might be moss to line a nest. So here is a closer cut from the picture, and although it's not quite sharp you can see that it is indeed a collection of midges.

A Stock Dove was back in the Tawny Owl's hole today, but we have seen them there before and know that it's not a sign that the owl has gone away. Jackdaws also use this hole to get into the roomy interior of the hollow tree.

The Grey Herons that successfully nested earlier this year on the island were back on their nest. It's not clear whether they're thinking of breeding again. None of the other herons has even started.

As the newly arrived Great Crested Grebes disperse in pairs all over the lake it's hard to keep track of which is which. These were displaying at the bridge.

A pair of Coots have nested on the submerged semicircular wall under the marble fountain in the Italian Garden. This wall is the remains of a large water filter which was part of the original steam-powered works of the six fountains in the garden, now replaced by electrical equipment which constantly goes wrong.

Neil has found the Canada Geese with four goslings which went missing from the Long Water. They are now on the Serpentine, and must have been keeping out of sight on the island. This is his picture from yesterday. Today they were at the Lido, but his picture is better than the one I took.

He also found another pair with two goslings and got a distant shot of them by the Diana fountain reed bed.

A Mandarin drake took a drink from the Serpentine.

The Mallards at the Lido still have seven ducklings.

However, more Herring Gulls have returned to the lake, and a fair number of Lesser Black-Backs too, which is not good news for ducks or geese. The Egyptians near the bridge are now down to two.