A sight of the Hobby

A Hobby was hunting over Kensington Gardens. There was a distant view of it in the top of a tall poplar near the Queen's Temple before it sped off again.

The adult female Peregrine was on the barracks tower by herself.

The female Little Owl at the Round Pond was dozing in a horse chestnut, well hidden in the leaves. She opened one eye and looked at me with mild annoyance.

There were two young Robins in the Rose Garden, one in a flower bed ...

... and the other in the shrubbery ...

... where there was also a male Chaffinch.

A dead tree to the north of Peter Pan is a good place for seeing small songbirds, and today there was a female Blackcap flitting around.

Ahmet Amerikali found another Blackcap eating berries in an elder tree at the southwest corner of the bridge.

A Wren in the Flower Walk caught an earwig.

Both the young Grey Herons were in the nest. One flew down and started walking around on the wire baskets ...

... but the other, although it flapped frantically, still doesn't dare to come out.

In the Great Crested Grebes' nest below, one of the three chicks emerged from its mother's back and flapped its little wings energetically while she gave it a feather. You can see one of the other chicks behind it.

An older teenager, now independent and fishing for itself, took time off to have a wash.

The pale Greylag Goose that was on the Round Pond has now flown down to the Serpentine.

There have been Brown Hawker dragonflies dashing around in the park for two weeks, and during this time I have never seen one land even for a moment. But Ahmet found one that stayed on a bramble long enough to be photographed.

A Red Admiral butterfly feeding on a hemp agrimony flower in the Flower Walk was slightly disturbed by a passing Honeybee.

The globe thistles in the Rose Garden are particularly popular with Buff-Tailed Bumblebees.

There was an odd fungus on a dead tree in the Rose Garden shrubbery exuding drops of brown liquid all over its surface. It turns out to be an Oak Bracket, Inonotus dryadeus.

Three Great Crested Grebe chicks

The Song Thrush that I've filmed several times singing in a tree near the Italian Garden had flown across the path to land on a stump in the open and give us a bit more song.

There were two Jackdaws at the Vista, and another one in Hyde Park. I still haven't discovered where the main flock has gone.

All the Jays are looking tatty at the moment, but come the autumn they will get smart new feathers.

The female Little Owl at the Round Pond was in the lime tree. I couldn't find the others.

There was a Peregrine on the barracks in the morning, but it flew away before I could get to it. Later I saw one on the roof of the deserted hotel in the Cromwell Road. This picture was taken from at least a mile away.

One of the young Grey Herons was out of the nest and exploring the island. It strode along a basket ...

... and flew on to a post, landing as neatly as if if it had been flying for years.

The other one seems to be a complete stay-at-home and never leaves the nest. It got madly exciting when a parent landed above it, expecting to be fed.

The single older chick from the previous brood was fishing near the bridge. Its sister (we now know it's female) is in the Swan Sanctuary recovering from a broken leg.

The adult which hangs around the Lido restaurant was on a table, annoyed by not being able to drink out of a bottle.

Pigeon Eater, not seen much now in his old place by the Dell restaurant, had returned and perched in his favourite spot on the roof.

It was changeover time at the Great Crested Grebes' nest by the Serpentine island, allowing us to see that there are now three chicks. That's all there will be, as there were only three eggs.

They were very active, climbing all over the nest and on to their mother's back.

A teenage grebe at the other end of the island scratched its ear with a foot.

The Coots at the top of the Long Water were having a faceoff with an intruder.

This allowed the Moorhen in the reed bed, which the Coots constantly persecute, to have a moment of peace.

A Moorhen on the Serpentine confronted a Mute Swan. Surprisingly, it was the swan that backed off and swam away.

Only one Tufted duckling could be seen at the Vista. This was worrying, as there were nine yesterday. It seems unlikely that eight would perish overnight, and I hope the others were just out of sight round the corner of the reed bed. Later: Duncan Campbell thinks there are two broods of Tufted ducklings and this is the other one.

Young Green Woodpecker

A young Green Woodpecker flew up into a tree near the Speke obelisk. You can already tell it's male from the small red patch under its bill. On a female it would be black.

A female Blackcap ...

... and a young one appeared in the trees north of Peter Pan.

There were two Robins in the Flower Walk. This one was in the corkscrew hazel bush.

There was also a pair of Coal Tits.

A young Great Tit on the spiked railings by the bridge demanded a pine nut.

Someone had given a Carrion Crow two Cheesy Wotsits in the Italian Garden. I was surprised to discover that these alarmingly artificial-looking things actually contain cheese and that the bright orange colour comes from natural paprika extract and annatto.

The female Little Owl at the Round Pond was in her usual lime tree, but I couldn't find the others despite visiting twice.

One of the young Grey Herons had come down from the nest again to wander around the island. The other didn't feel like joining it and was staying put.

There are now two Great Crested Grebe chicks on the nest at the island. This was apparent when the parent stood up and they nearly fell out from under its wing. They are holding on with their own wings, which at this stage function as front legs.

Here is one of them crawling across the nest, and you can see how it uses its wings.

A Mute Swan near the Lido was preening and finished by flapping its wings. Its flight feathers haven't grown back yet, so it's still grounded while all the geese are flying around trying out their new wings.

The Tufted Duck family, still with nine ducklings, had come under the bridge on to the Long Water. They weren't in a good place for a picture and the ducklings were diving like fury, so I could only get four into this picture.

There are carp of different sizes in the Italian Garden pools. The returning Cormorants have noticed, of course, and are visiting to hunt the smaller ones.

A lovely Banded Demoiselle fly rested on an ivy leaf at the back of the Lido.

A Speckled Wood butterfly perched on a leaf in the Flower Walk in a place where there are Speckled Woods every year.

Two Buff-Tailed Bumblebees shared a thistle.

There were several Hornet Hoverflies in the buddleia near the bridge, but I didn't see another Pellucid.

Great Crested Grebe chick at the island

A Coal Tit fidgeted and preened in a crabapple tree at Mount Gate. I hadn't seen it for weeks, but it remembered me and came to my hand for a pine nut.

There's never been a lapse with the Great Tits, which come pouring out of the bushes everywhere all the year round.

A young Robin appeared for a moment in a bush in the Flower Walk, than vanished into the leaves.

A young Blackbird near the Italian Garden took off from a branch.

Only one Little Owl could be seen at the Round Pond, the male who was on a horse chestnut branch.

A Black-Headed Gull took it easy on a post by the bridge.

It was a relief to find that the young Grey Herons can now fly well enough to get back up to the nest.

The first Great Crested Grebe chick has hatched in the nest on the chain at the Serpentine island. It climbed on to its father's back and its mother brought it a feather, a necessary part of a grebe's diet to prevent its insides from being scratched by sharp fishbones.

The Coots at the bridge looked downcast. Their three chicks have been taken, probably by a Herring Gull. This is the second brood they've lost here this year. Even Coots can be discouraged and probably they won't try again.

The young Coot under the Italian Garden, the sole survivor of a brood, was playing at nest building with its parents.

Above it, a Moorhen walked round the edge of the lower bowl of the marble fountain.

One of the two single cygnets on the Serpentine. It's going through the awkward stage where it's no longer an adorable little fluffy thing but not yet an elegant teenager.

The four Canada x Greylag Goose hybrids were on the shore near the Triangle. It looks as if they're siblings as their faces are quite similar and their feet are all the same dull greyish pink. Foot colour is very variable in these hybrids.

Tufted ducklings can dive well from the moment they are hatched. Here they are busily bobbing up and down. This makes it hard to count them but I think that all nine have survived so far.

The globe thistles in the Rose Garden were alive with Buff-Tailed Bumblebees.

Another browsed on a bright Busy Lizzy in the Italian Garden.

Red Admiral butterflies have a casual habit of sunning themselves in the middle of the path. They must enjoy the heat radiating from the sun-warmed tarmac.

Otherwise the only butterfly was a Meadow Brown on a bramble leaf. It's curious that although several buddleia bushes are in bloom I have yet to see a butterfly on one.