Heron nests

Both the Grey Herons were on their nests on the island. The one with the red bill, still apparently waiting for its mate to turn up, needs to do a lot of work to build the nest up to a useful size. Both sexes collaborate with building, unlike storks where the male does all the work and builds a huge pile to impress the female.

As we saw yesterday there's already a pair on the other nest. Much less work is required here, as the nest has lasted quite well over the past year.

The remaining heron was standing indifferently on a basket. Maybe a mate will turn up. There's plenty of space for nesting.

A young heron, not yet in the mating game, fished by the landing stage.

The Great Crested Grebe family on the Serpentine were spread out. The male was resting near the nest site on the island ...

... the female was fishing near the boat hire platform ...

... and the young one was near the outflow. Its juvenile stripes seem to be lasting a long time, you'd expect them to have largely faded by now.

A Great Tit by the bridge delicately pecked little bites out of a pine nut.

A Coal Tit perched in a tree near the Albert Memorial.

A Robin sang in the Rose Garden ...

... and a Wren flitted about in the flower beds.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond was in her usual place, though it took two visits to see her.

A few yards away a clump of Oyster Mushrooms was growing on a fallen horse chestnut trunk.

The flower beds in the Rose Garden are planted with bulbs that are meant to come up in the spring. The squirrels know about this and nose around trying to locate them by smell and dig them up.

Some strange visitors were in the queue for the Winter Wasteland.