Teenage Little Grebe

A surprise visitor: a teenage Little Grebe, still with traces of juvenile stripes. Ahmet Amerikali photographed it at the Lido.

I think it must have flown in. Surely we'd have noticed if the Little Grebe that visited earlier in the year had found a mate and bred. They're quite vocal when there's a pair.

The Great Crested Grebe chicks from the bridge were clamouring for more as their parents fed them non-stop. Here are two chicks, with their mother bringing the fish in both pictures.

Two of the four chicks from farther up the Long Water must have been fed enough, as they were mooching around under a tree.

I heard the older family on the Serpentine near the Lido, but they were out of sight behind the reeds. And I didn't see the pair with one chick at the island, not surprisingly as the nest is behind the wire baskets.

The swimming at the Lido has closed down for the autumn and you can now walk along the waterfront. The park management has again put up notices about blue-green algae, of which I can see no trace whatever. Presumably the idea is to frighten people off swimming.

The five Mute cygnets were just east of the Lido under the watchful eye of their mother. 

This dark Mallard drake is one of three, probably brothers. He's out of eclipse now and back in his sombre breeding plumage.

Gadwalls are occasional visitors to the park. They eat mostly algae and water plants. Tufted Duck are permanent residents and more carnivorous in their diet, diving for molluscs and insect larvae.

A Grey Heron jumped up the small waterfall in the Dell stream, looking for fish. It's an odd little ecosystem as the stream, fed by the high waterfall at the Serpentine outflow, runs for only a few yards before it goes underground in a pipe, which presumably no fish go into for very far. There are some quite big carp in the part below the small waterfall, but there must also be smaller ones suitable for the heron to eat. Probably the supply is kept up by fish from the lake being washed down the waterfall.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery had been sheltering inside the lime tree during a shower, and emerged cautiously to ensure that he didn't get wet.

I heard the male at the Round Pond calling from an old broken horse chestnut southeast of the nest tree, beside the path that runs up the east side of the Vista. I went round the tree several times, but he was well hidden in the leaves.

The female Peregrine was preening on the tower.

A Reed Warbler showed for a moment below the Italian Garden and I got a hasty poor shot before it vanished.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits jumped around in the trees beside the Henry Moore sculpture.

I heard a Chiffchaff here but only saw it distantly. Ahmet was luckier and got this picture of one, probably young as it looks slightly fluffy.

He also found a Goldcrest here. There's a yew tree nearby, their favourite habitat.

A fox rested in the Dell.

I've heard a disturbing rumour that the park management intend to 'move them on', which I suspect is a euphemism for a worse fate. It would be quite pointless, as the park is brimful of foxes and more would instantly take their place. There have been foxes in the Dell for many years, ever since urban foxes took hold in London. But the management are annoyed by people feeding this family, and have reacted predictably.

A Garden Spider waited in a web near the Queen's Temple.

I was puzzled by this butterfly on the Verbena bonarienis in the Dell. It looked like a Large White but it was yellow. You expect white butterflies to be greenish-yellow on the underside, but this one was quite a bright pale yellow on its upper side as well, not as intense as a Brimstone but very noticeable.