Sunny and cold

Another sunny morning, and the Little Owl at the Speke obelisk was out of his hole in the chestnut tree. I still haven't seen his mate this year, but she has been seen by others. They don't seem to have bred this year.

A Jay waited in a small tree ...

... and a Carrion Crow sidled up, looking glossily iridescent in the sunshine.

A Magpie had a background of yellow leaves.

It was chilly, and the bushes in the Flower Walk were full of hungry Great Tits,  Coal Tits ...

... and Blue Tits.

Ahmet Amerikali got a good picture of a Long-Tailed Tit beside the Serpentine.

There are still plenty of sloes in the bush at the Lido, and a pair of Blackbirds were eating them ...

... until a squirrel turned up and chased them out.

A Pied Wagtail hunted along the shore.

A pale bronze Feral Pigeon looked quite ornamental in a patch of dead leaves.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull eyed a pigeon at the Dell restaurant, but didn't manage to catch it this time.

A Black-Headed Gull stood over its reflection in the lake.

A Moorhen balanced on a chain at the bridge.

There are still some Pochards on the Long Water.

It seems odd that, having come to overwinter, most of them have already left. All the Shovellers have moved out too.

Joan Chatterley reports the latest stage in the Mute Swan drama: all three in the Italian Garden, glaring at each other.