Birds come out of hiding

The small birds in the Flower Walk had been frightened by a predator when I arrived, probably one of the resident pair of Sparrowhawks but I didn't see it. They were hiding in the bushes, but gradually came out to be fed.

A Coal Tit stared down from the corkscrew hazel ...

... and the male Chaffinch ...

... his mate ...

... and a Robin were also looking hungry.

Only a Blue Tit was polite enough not to stare.

A Carrion Crow was also looking expectant, but then they always do.

A Lesser Black-Backed Gull stood on a post at the Vista, a bit ruffled by the wind, and looked around in a lordly way. It has rather off-coloured feet, not the typical yellow. Some of the LBBs here have pinkish feet like Herring Gulls, and I think there may be some hybrids.

Ahmet Amerikali photographed a confrontation between a Cormorant and a Grey Heron which wanted its post. The heron stayed put.

Coot fights are usually between pairs defending what they consider to be their territories -- which overlap, so there are a lot of fights. Often only the males fight and the females stay at the edge cheering them on. But sometimes it becomes two on two.

The Little Grebe was with the Gadwalls when I arrived at the Italian Garden ...

... but Ahmet found it helping the Mallards.

The dominant pair of Mute Swans had flown in. They got bored with one pool, so first the male ...

... and then the female transferred ungracefully to the next one.

Joan Chatterley photographed the Black Swan on the Round Pond.

Abigail was in the Rose Garden, where she found the Buff-Tailed Bumblebees busy on the mahonia.

She also sent a picture from inside the Dell restaurant: an old-fashioned protester at Speaker's Corner, not to be compared with the rabble you see there now.

I miss Stanley Green, the 'Less Protein' man who for years used to carry his placard at Oxford Circus. There is a Wikipedia article about him.