Hot Jay

A Jay feeling too hot on a branch flew down and refreshed itself with some juicy blackberries.

A Starling at the Dell restaurant was also feeling the heat, but it was near water and could bathe when it wanted to.

Mark Williams sent a picture from Somerset of a young House Sparrow cooling off in a tin bowl of water.

A flock of Blue Tits passed through the trees at the back of the Lido.

A couple of Feral Pigeons in the Flower Walk amused themselves with a mild flirtation.

The female Little Owl near the Round Pond looked down from a treetop.

One of the owlets was in their usual hole -- which is not the nest hole, it's a place they have found for themselves. They are beginning to look quite grown up, and are getting the spotted heads of adults.

The Peregrines were on the tower, with only the female showing reasonably well.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was back in his usual territory near the Dell restaurant.

A Grey Heron perched on a tarpaulin-covered coffer dam around one of the small boathouses, which is being repaired. This made a good fishing station and it caught a carp.

One of the young herons from the nest at the west end of the island stood on the shore. They have stopped being gawky and are now rather elegant.

The three Mute cygnets from the gravel strip on the Long Water were by themselves on the Serpentine.

Their parents had evidently decided that they were old enough to look after themselves, and were back on the gravel.

A Tufted drake passed by with a small harem.

The clumps of purple loosestrife in the Italian Garden fountains were alive with bees, mostly Honeybees though one Common Carder appeared.

David Element saw a Willow Emerald damselfly here, which I couldn't find. Here is his own fine picture.

Another picture from Mark Williams: a Painted Lady being considerably out-painted by a herbaceous border. But, despite their name, they are not actually gaudy butterflies.