Around the Wasteland

A Robin in the Rose Garden had to sing at the top of its voice to make itself heard over the din from the Winter Wasteland just across the road.

A Carrion Crow posed in front of the dreadful Hangover ride which drops you from a 300ft tower -- not that a Crow would be fazed by this.

The park geese actually benefit from the Wasteland, because the enormous blockage of its enclosure reroutes passers by around some areas of lush grass that otherwise would be too busy with people and dogs for them to graze in peace.

So perhaps does the pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull. Part of the edge of the lake is temporarily fenced off, giving him a hunting ground undisturbed by humans.

Two Starlings preened on a hawthorn branch as they waited to raid a table on the terrace of the Dell restaurant.

This Blackbird in the Rose Garden remains extremely shy in spite of my efforts to pacify him with raisins.

A sunny spell didn't tempt the Little Owl at the Round Pond out from the back of his hole. So it was the same unsatisfactory picture again, but that's better than not seeing an owl at all.

The owl at Speke wasn't showing. A Jackdaw looked down from a nearby tree.

A Jay stared out from the corkscrew hazel bush in the Flower Walk.

A Carrion Crow and a Black-Headed Gull enjoyed a dogfight over the Long Water.

A Blue Tit hopped around a yew tree on the edge of the leaf yard.

There were only two Cormorants left on the Serpentine, seen here in their favourite tree on the island.

Although the lake has almost been fished out, a Cormorant on the Long Water managed to catch a substantial perch under the edge of the Italian Garden.

The Little Grebe is still in the fountain pool.

The Mute Swan pair were there too, while the rejected female was at the Vista without her female companion of yesterday.

A female Pochard had a flap.

The mahonia bush in the Rose Garden had several Buff-Tailed Bumblebees in it. There's always some kind of flower here that bumblebees can feed on, even in the depth of winter.