Two Little owlets

Two Little owlets looked out of the hole in the dead tree at the Round Pond. They aren't easy to see from ground level, and I took this shot by holding the small camera at arms' length above my head.

Their father watched me warily from a branch. I managed to approach him without driving him away. He knows me quite well, and realises that the big lens pointed at him is not a weapon.

A young Carrion Crow, still with blue eyes, in the Italian Garden fountains picked insect larvae off the water, then came over to take a peanut I had put down for it.

A young Robin in the Flower Walk is just beginning to get its first red feathers. It was standing rather worryingly on one leg ...

... but when it moved to another twig it was clear that all was well.

An adult perched nearby, probably not its parent as its feathers were not abraded by feeding chicks. Young Robins still in juvenile plumage are not seen as a territorial challenge.

But I was surprised to see an immature male Blackbird in the middle of the territory of the pair of Blackbirds near the Speke obelisk. They are still feeding fledglings, and you'd expect them to chase away an interloper.

A Greenfinch perched in the top of a neighbouring tree.

The four teenage Mallards moved briskly down the edge of the Serpentine. I don't know why they were going so fast, except perhaps because they were teenagers.

The Mallard family in the Italian Garden have crossed into another fountain pool, with the ducklings having to jump over foot-high kerbs around each pool. They may have moved to get away from aggressive Coots in the first pool. Only eight ducklings survive from yesterday's eleven.

A view of the kerb from the land side, with a pair of Egyptian Geese to give it scale. The drop on the water side is greater but the top of the kerb is more sloping, so the jump is about the same except that it has to be done from water.

I think all the seven Coot chicks are still present. It was hard to tell, as they were bustling around inside a clump of purple loosestrife.

The Coots at the bridge have taken back their nest which was hijacked by a Grey Heron yesterday.

A Mute Swan on the Serpentine chewed a newspaper for no apparent reason. They often check submerged objects for snails, but there wouldn't be any on a freshly dropped paper.

The Black Swan was mooching elegantly about the east end of the lake.

Both the Bar-Headed x Greylag Goose hybrids trot up briskly when they see me, as they know I will shell peanuts for them.

A female Blue-Tailed Damselfly perched in the grass near the Italian Garden. Unlike the uniform black and blue males, they are very variable in colour.

When the planters were put in the Italian Garden after its restoration, one of the plants chosen was the beautiful Flowering Rush. However, these have been crowded out by the vigorous growth of Yellow Flag irises and Purple Loosestrife, as well as various self-seeded plants, and only a few survive.