Dunnock in the Rose Garden

A Dunnock perched among rose hips in the Rose Garden. There are at least three of these shy, unobtrusive birds in the flower beds here.

Two Long-Tailed Tits paused on a twig near the Speke obelisk.

A Coal Tit looked up from a yew tree in the North Flower Walk, checking the sky for danger.

Starlings at the Lido restaurant waited on an umbrella, looking for the chance of a raid.

This young Grey Heron under the Dell waterfall is probably one from the second successful nest this year.

An adult looked out from a patch of purple loosestrife growing on one of the wire baskets surrounding the island.

These baskets were originally planted with various water plants intended to provide an ornamental border around the island, but these all died or were eaten. Now nature is slowly filling them with purple loosestrife, great willowherb and odd patches of grass, which will eventually hide the ugly wire mesh. It might be a good idea to seed the empty baskets with the first two species and hurry the process up. The seeds of both are very cheap.

Moorhens are secretive birds, good at avoiding notice. I have no idea where the nest was that produced this chick on the gravel bank in the Long Water.

The resident pair of Moorhens in the Dell browsed on the lush grass which has sprung up since the drought broke. They had at least two chicks, but I don't think these have survived.

The female Pochard is still here on her own, free from harassment by the 40-odd drakes on the Long Water.

Shovellers are returning to the park for the winter. 

The drakes are still in eclipse, but will change to their showy breeding plumage while they are here.

In the Italian Garden the wind blew the spray from the marble fountain across the pavement, and the resident Mute Swan took the opportunity to have a shower and do a bit of preening.

The wind caused the teenage Egyptians to go into a huddle, a habit that lasts until they are fully adult.

There are now two very blond Egyptians on the Serpentine. They were together on the north shore near the Dell restaurant. The one at the back is larger and presumably male.

The female above is not Blondie. She was by herself nearer the restaurant, distinguishable by her almost white head and grey wings and tail.

The heliotrope patch in the South Flower Walk is still attracting plenty of insects. You can tell a White-Tailed Bumblebee from a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee not by the colour of its tail, which is variable, but by the colour of its stripes. White-Tailed have bright yellow stripes, Buff-Tailed orange brown.