Small birds in the shade

Another hot day kept the small birds sheltering in the bushes. A Blue Tit in the Flower Walk looked out over a leaf ...

... and one of the Coal Tits behind the Albert Memorial briefly emerged. They are singing occasionally.

The Long-Tailed Tits never abandon their endless journey hunting insects.

Wrens are visible mainly when they are yelling defiance at Magpies and Jays.

The adult male Blackbird in the Dell came out on to a rock, looking as smart in his black plumage as Beau Brummell when he upstaged the dandies in their bright suits.

Green Woodpeckers appear unpredictably anywhere. This one was near the Henry Moore sculpture.

The male Little Owl at the Round Pond was uncomfortable and restless, leaping from branch to branch.

The female at the Serpentine Gallery was settled in a shaded spot in the lime tree.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was in his usual place near the Dell restaurant. He's having to hunt naive and easily caught pigeons farther afield now, but this is still his home territory.

A Cormorant preened on a post at the Serpentine island.

The three Great Crested Grebe chicks at the bridge kept cool under the willow tree.

One of the grebes from the island gave a mighty shrug. The chick was not disturbed by this usual grebe comfort movement, and it does the same thing on a smaller scale.

This Canada x Greylag hybrid goose has paired with a pure Canada. There will be no offspring as the hybrids are sterile, but really the lake has more geese than it can cope with.

A mob of Canadas and a couple of Greylags collected to eat some birdseed chucked into the lake.

A patch of salvia attracted a crowd of Buff-Tailed Bumblebees.

A Batman Hoverfly took a moment off browsing on Mexican Orange blossom and rested on one of the glossy leaves.

There are still quite a few Speckled Wood butterflies. Although individual adults live only three weeks, the species has a long season from April to October.