A grey day

It was a dark soggy day and hard to get reasonable pictures. After I had lured two Magpies out of the corkscrew hazel bush in the Flower Walk with gifts of peanuts ...

... the small birds arrived, including the very hungry Coal Tit that follows me along the path.

Word seems to be getting around the normally nervous Blue Tits that it's safe to come to people's hand for food, and there are now four in the Flower Walk and behind the Albert Memorial that will do this.

They include the tatty Blue Tit now, but I didn't see her today. Neil told me that her peculiar appearance is due to a gene called 'frizzle' which is found in various species.

The female Chaffinch was in the prematurely blossoming viburnum bush across the path ...

... and a male of a different pair came out in a tree at the back of the Albert Memorial.

A pair of Wrens hopped around in a bush near the Italian Garden.

The flock of Long-Tailed Tits from the back of the Lido was in a weeping willow.

A pair of Black-Headed Gulls displayed to each other on the shore below.

The young Grey Heron was fishing from a wire basket at the island.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes rested on the Long Water.

A Moorhen poked around in the little stream in the Dell. They can find something to eat just about anywhere.

The Mute Swans seem to have gone back to the status quo. The pair in the Italian Garden were on the kerb of a pool. The male, on the right, seems to be more tolerant of the local Egyptian Geese.

The widowed female was on the nesting island with a Cormorant and a Grey Heron.

The teenage cygnet that was stranded in the Italian Garden yesterday has managed to escape.

Three Egyptians preened side by side on the edge of the Serpentine. They must be a family to stay so peacefully together.

Damp as it was, the temperature was quite mild and there were several Buff-Tailed Bumblebees browsing on the withered lavender in the Rose Garden.