Warbling in the reeds

The Reed Warbler is still singing in the reeds next to the marble fountain in the Italian Garden.

For several days a Chiffchaff has been singing from the dead branches at the top of a tall tree near the Buck Hill shelter. He sometimes stays on the same twig for several minutes, which is unusual for these restless birds.

A family of Long-Tailed Tits swept through the willows on the south side of the Serpentine. Parents are no longer feeding their young, all are hunting together.

A picture by Neil of one of the bold young Great Tits in the Flower Walk that will now come to your hand to take food.

Mark Williams got a good picture of a Pied Wagtail at Clapton Pond. In the park here they can often be seen flying over but I haven't found where they are currently hunting on the ground.

Another picture from Mark: a young Whitethroat at the Welsh Harp reservoir.

The Lesser Black-Backed Gull which has recently joined the pigeon-hunting elite was at the Triangle car park and had clearly succeeded earlier, as there were pigeon remains on the shore. He displayed to a young female Herring Gull, which wasn't very interested and pecked him away for getting too close.

The original pigeon eater was in his usual place at the Dell restaurant. Some foolish people were feeding the pigeons, gathering a dense mob. The gull swooped straight in and grabbed one, but it escaped leaving only a few feathers in his beak.

Both these gulls have very bright yellow feet, and I think this colour comes from their meat diet in the form of astaxanthin, a carotene pigment.

A Great Crested Grebe fished near the bridge.

The Coot family from the nest at the bridge have now started ranging more widely down the lake. The biggest chick is now feeding itself of algae from the edge.

The Moorhen nesting inside the weir came out to have a preen.

Another was running over the moored boats, which provide both insects on the gull droppings and an adventure playground for them to enjoy climbing.

A moulting Greylag Goose is well ahead of the others, and its new wing feathers have almost completely emerged.

Two more regular June visitors have arrived on the lake, Canadas with speckled heads. They aren't hybrids, as you can see from their black feet. Speckles appear on pure-bred Canadas occasionally, and usually on hybrids with Greylags.

An Egyptian mother and her six goslings gathered into a compact heap.

Female Common Blue damselflies come in a variety of colours. Duncan Campbell photographed a pale brown one.

Common Blue butterflies also have brown females, but this one in the Rose Garden is a blue male. I think the blue is only in surface scales, as it seems to have worn off where the folded wings overlap.

The undersides of his wings are brownish with black and orange spots.