The Peregrines return

After months of absence, the Peregrines were back on the tower of the Knightsbridge barracks. There was a brisk wind and they were perched some way back from the edge of their ledge, so I had to photograph them from a distance.

The female Little Owl near the Round Pond was up against the trunk of her tree sheltering from the wind, which blasts over this exposed place.

She seemed restless, so I started filming her. And then she picked up a leaf and started biting it and playing with it. I've never seen an owl playing before.

The female owl at the Serpentine Gallery was less bothered by the wind, as the surrounding trees give shelter. She was out on a branch.

A family of Blue Tits jumped around in a bush in the Flower Walk. The young ones are still grey rather than blue.

This duckboard in the Italian Garden fountain pool is a place where Feral Pigeons like to bathe. It's lost the wooden crossbars that were supposed to provide steps for ducks, and the pigeons can't help sliding down it, often colliding with the one at the bottom.

The young Carrion Crows have seen their parents opening peanuts with a few skilful pecks. This one tried to do it but failed, so it went over to its parent and begged.

The young Grey Herons were preening in their nest.

A pair of Moorhens had a conversation on the edge of the Serpentine.

The dominant Mute Swans on the Long Water brought their two cygnets over to Peter Pan. The young ones are quite large now.

The five Egyptian goslings are teenagers now but still like to huddle together in a sociable heap.

The single Mallard duckling is still on the Serpentine and has grown noticeably, but it's still in constant danger.

There was also a Red-Crested Pochard drake in eclipse.

Mark Williams sent two interesting pictures. I think this butterfly in St James's Park is a Silver-Washed Fritillary, but I'm far from sure. Update: confirmed by no less a person than John Ferguson.

Red Soldier Beetles mated on a stem at the Welsh Harp reservoir.

Common Wasps may nest in a papier-mâché structure built in a tree, or in a hole in the ground. Here is a nest of the second type. It's a remarkably large hole for such a small creature to dig.

White-Tailed and Buff-Tailed Bumblebees are often tricky to tell apart, but a bee that has both a white tail and bright yellow stripes can be assumed to be the former. This one was on a globe thistle.

It flew to another flower and joined a Honeybee. Here in shadow I'd have said it was Buff-Tailed, but it was the same bee.