Freezing weather sets in

A very cold night, the first of many if the forecast is right, had begun to freeze the Long Water. This Herring Gull looks less than a year old, so this was the first ice it had seen -- a new and fascinating thing to play with.

Black-Headed Gulls slid about happily.

On the Serpentine, the Czech gull who takes it in turns with EZ73323 to knock each other off the No Swimming sign had temporary possession.

On a sign on the opposite side of the lake, a Common Gull was about to realise that there was another coming up behind it to push it off.

The wet footprints of hardy morning bathers at the Lido had frozen.

But at least the sun was out and made a pretty rainbow in a fountain in the Italian Garden ...

... and brought the female Little Owl at the Round Pond out on the end of the branch, where she remained all day.

A brisk freezing wind made waves break over the shore of the pond, and a Pied Wagtail looked for small creatures that had been washed up.

A Carrion Crow perched disrespectfully on Queen Victoria's sceptre.

Chiffchaffs are usually extremely shy, but this one below the Triangle car park was so busy eating seeds that it allowed me to film it for more than a minute. I think the plant is fleabane.

The Robin by the Henry Moore sculpture was out on a twig, singing occasionally.

Some Long-Tailed Tits passed by.

The male Blackbird on the edge of the Rose Garden was having a hard time finding worms in the frozen ground, but he doesn't understand when I try to feed him raisins.

The female Peregrine was on the tower. There will always be Feral Pigeons to keep her well fed.

A pure white pigeon wandered around the Rose Garden, unusual in the park where almost all the white pigeons have some black feathers.

The sitting Grey Heron was invisible in the nest, but its mate was waiting in the usual place. It's been 24 days since I first saw a heron sitting, so hatching is imminent.

The number of Cormorants has increased slightly. They can fish efficiently under the edge of sheets of ice.

Naturally all the Great Crested Grebes have left to go up the river. They dread getting frozen in.

On the Serpentine the Black Swan called melodiously to his girlfriend. As a Mute Swan she doesn't know what he means and can't reply, but she seemed to like being serenaded.

They were a long way up the lake from the end where the swans have been cowering away from the killer swan, who was with his family by the bridge. Yesterday Jenna saw a swan standing up to the killer. I think it likely that this was the male who nested on the island, 4FYG, who has shown signs of resistance before.

It looks as if 4DVZ and 4FYF are a couple. They were preening together on the edge of the Dell restaurant terrace.

This is not Blondie. It's one of the ultra-blonde Egyptians, three siblings though I'm not sure how many there are here at the moment. Their wings are paler than Blondie's but their heads are more beige while hers is almost white.