Cross Cormorant

A male Chaffinch stared impatiently from a bush in the South Flower Walk. He wanted me to throw pine nuts so he could catch them in midair, which of course I did.

In the North Flower Walk a Wood Pigeon lurched and flapped gracelessly around in a bay tree to reach the fruit.

A Coal Tit probed the lichen on a dead hawthorn tree near the Rose Garden. The tree may be barren but the lichen is full of insects.

A Jackdaw came down to drink from the Serpentine and played with a twig.

The female Little Owl was in the usual horse chestnut tree near the Round Pond.

I haven't seen the owls at the Serpentine Gallery for some time. It looks as if they've changed trees.

Both Peregrines stared down from the barracks tower. They are very aware of events on the ground far below, not least because it's teeming with Feral Pigeons.

The Black-Headed Gull who owns the landing stage by the Diana fountain was guarding his turf.

Nine Cormorants perched on the raft in the Long Water. We are at peak Cormorant now.

One caught a perch by the bridge and tossed it in the air to turn around so it could be swallowed head first.

Another jumped out of a pool in the Italian Garden.

This is the noise that Cormorants make in aggressive confrontations. But there was no other Cormorant near, so maybe the bird was just in a bad temper.

A young Great Crested Grebe from the nest at the bridge caught a fish which came up covered in weed. Their hunting skills are improving as the time approaches when their parents will stop feeding them.

Two young ones from the other Long Water nest practised their greeting display.

The young grebes are ranging widely now, causing their parents to go into ther grebes' territories, and there have been clashes. This female had been driven ashore after a confrontation -- a picture taken by Virginia on her phone. I'm sure the grebe went back in the water soon enough. They can always escape conflict under water, covering a long distance before they have to surface.

A Red-Crested Pochard drake on the far side of the Long Water was fully back in breeding plumage. The Shoveller drake beside him wasn't ...

... but this one was.

A Tufted Drake was well on the way to getting his smart white sides.

A patch of plumbago in the Rose Garden attracted a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee.