Pigeon failures

A young Wood Pigeon perched in a holly tree, but the berries are so unripe that not even a Wood Pigeon can eat them. Never mind, there are still plenty of blackberries.

A male Feral Pigeon tried to woo a female, but she wasn't in the mood and just walked off.

A young Long-Tailed Tit was in the scruffy stage of changing to adult plumage.

The male Little Owl at the Round Pond flew down to a lower branch when he saw me approaching. Of course he doesn't understand about photographs but he might realise he's being admired.

I couldn't see a Reed Warbler at the Italian Garden. Recently Conehead 54 pointed out that one of the birds I had photographed hunting at the front of the reeds was a young one, so it looks as if they're becoming independent and their overworked parents can have a rest. But Ahmet Amerikali got a picture of one of them in the reeds by the bridge, where they have also bred though they are much harder to see.

The Peregrines were on the barracks tower, as usual unsocially on either side of the central division.

The Grey Heron at the Lido restaurant came up into one of the planters along the edge of the tables to beg for food. People must be feeding it.

A young Lesser Black-Backed Gull (left) and a young Herring Gull fought over a crisp packet.

The Great Crested Grebes at the bridge were having a quiet time under the willow. The chicks are now too big to ride on a parent's back.

Those on the east side of the Long Water are slightly younger and one can just fit on.

Geese sometimes get attacks of silliness where they dive and chase each other around. It often happens to Greylags, as here, and to Egyptians, but the big Canadas seem to be more staid.

A Mallard at the Triangle car park had just one small duckling. 

There were calls and rustling in the shrubbery at the top of the Dell and you could just see the fox family moving around.

The goddess Diana is back on the restored Huntress fountain in the Rose Garden, and the fountain is ready to go when the scaffolding has been taken down. Her direction of fire is still accurately lined up on the statue of Lord Byron in Park Lane.

I didn't see any unusual insects today, but at least an ordinary Honeybee had a pretty background as it fed on a Coreopsis flower.

Tom, on the other hand, was on holiday on Lesbos where he photographed this spectacular Mammoth Wasp, Megascolia maculata, on a patch of Sea Lavender. It's a female, larger than the male, and may be over 2 inches long.

He also got a very pleasing shot of a Bee Eater.