Another grebe family

For several days I've been hearing faint sounds of Great Crested Grebe chicks from the Serpentine island, but couldn't see anything. Today the parents and two chicks came across the lake into plain view.

They were being annoyed by Black-Headed Gulls trying to grab their fish, but managing to shrug them off.

Two of the chicks at the bridge swam idly around by the willow ...

... while the third ran to collect a feather.

The family farther up the Long Water had got a bit nearer and were easy to see.

The mate of the murderous Mute Swan was enjoying her new territory on the Long Water along with the five cygnets.

The sole surviving cygnet of the Long Water family is now safely at the Swan Sanctuary. The other survivor, whose parents are still alive, was at the island, as usual by itself. It's an adventurous young bird, I hope not too adventurous for its own good.

The Black Swan contorted its extremely long neck into impossible-looking positions as it preened. Swans have 22 to 25 cervical vertebrae, more than any other bird.

The pair of Egyptian Geese in the Italian Garden scooped up algae between the water lilies. The garden is just large enough for one resident pair, and these have replaced the old pair who were the first Egyptians to arrive in the park and lived to be at least 23.

A faint noise like a dog barking in the distance came from a Grey Heron on the shore by the Serpentine island quietly muttering for no apparent reason.

The old heron at the Henry Moore sculpture basked in the warm sunshine.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was in his usual place keeping an eye on a group of Feral Pigeons that were preening and relaxing. If one of them had shut an eye on his side, it would have been lunch in a moment. But the pigeons, which are not stupid, know this and keep alert.

I thought the Little owlet at the Serpentine had been thrown out by his parents, as I hadn't seen him for eight days. But today there he was in the usual lime tree.

The owlets at the Round Pond have certainly dispersed. Free from the need to keep an eye on them, the male perches in various places in the horse chestnut tree, and finding him is an interesting task.

There are quite a lot of Migrant Hawker dragonflies now. I saw four, all male. This one was in the reed bed by the bridge.

Late summer flowers are providing different foraging grounds for the the Honeybees. Here is one on a heuchera in the Flower Walk ...

... and another on a stonecrop in the Rose Garden.

A Batman Hoverfly perched on an agapanthus leaf in the Dell.