Robin singing again

A couple of cooler days have brought the small birds in the Flower Walk back out of hiding, though lack of rain remains a problem and they have to depend on the bird bath for their drinking water. A Robin, looking tatty after breeding for a second time, even sang a couple of phrases after its midsummer silence.

A young Robin, evidently its offspring, hopped around in the flower bed below.

The dependable Coal Tit came out to be fed ...

... as did a horde of Great Tits.

A Long-Tailed Tit perched in the red-leafed cherry tree, which has dropped most of its leaves because of the drought.

The young Blackbird here must be working hard to find enough insects to satisfy its hunger. The dry ground doesn't offer any worms. Luckily Blackbirds are omnivorous and there are already berries on some of the shrubs in the Flower Walk.

The Kingfisher is still on the Long Water but was only distantly visible from the far side.

One Little owlet could be seen beside the Round Pond ...

... and another at the Serpentine Gallery, but neither of them would pose for a good picture.

The female Peregrine was on the tower.

A pair of Grey Herons are still undecided about whether or not to nest in a tree near the bridge, well away from the heronry on the island. They often perch and preen here, and have started and then abandoned a nest, and I've even seen them mating, but they hesitate to commit themselves. It will be too late soon.

The single young Moorhen was at the island, looking at the top of a post it was about to jump up on.

The hot weather has made the Serpentine a mass of algae. A Greylag Goose inspected a thick patch.

Canadas scooped it off the surface, looking like a big version of Shoveller Ducks.

There are still lots of Meadow Brown butterflies, the commonest species in the park.