The last freezing day -- for now

On the Round Pond the birds were crammed into a narrow space of clear water at the edge. Fortunately we've had the last of this series of frosty nights and things will ease over the next few days.

The Black Swan had returned with his Mute girlfriend after their expedition to the Serpentine. I think the reduction in the area of clear water had caused them to have a run-in with the killer swan and they had wisely retreated.

This is a 'Polish' swan -- not actually from Poland, but this is the term for an unusually pale swan with pinkish-grey legs and feet and a pink bill. These swans have white cygnets instead of the usual grey.

A Canada Goose thought it was coming down on the water, and was surprised to find that it was skating on wet ice.

There were quite a lot of Shovellers ...

... and more were flying in, evidently from outside the park as there have been none on the main lake for several days.

Some Gadwalls had also arrived. One enjoyed a wash and a good flap.

The Little Owl was looking very fine in the sunshine on the diagonal branch of the dead tree.

On the Serpentine a young swan which had never seen ice before had made the mistake of landing on it and found it couldn't stand up on the slippery surface. It had a hard time flapping to the edge but eventually made it into clear water.

An adult who knew that you shouldn't come down on the hard stuff circled to find a clear patch, and eventually splashed down at the Lido.

I thought all the Great Crested Grebes had left, but there was the male from the west end of the island fishing under the edge of the ice.

A Grey Heron on the Long Water found that every time it took a step forward on the ice it slid backward. It did manage to make slow progress, and its excellent sense of balance kept it from falling over.

Hordes of Great Tits ...

... and Blue Tits poured out of the bushes in the Flower Walk to be fed, and exhausted my entire supply of pine nuts.

There were also three Coal Tits, the most seen in the Flower Walk for some time ...

... and the usual male Chaffinch, who followed us up to the Round Pond.

This Great Tit on the railings had an overgrown bill. It's not the first I've seen here, and someone reported one from elsewhere, so it seems to be a common deformity. It seemed to have no difficulty in taking a pine nut from my hand, though I couldn't see how it managed.

A Dunnock could be glimpsed hopping around in the bushes at Magazine Gate.

A Wood Pigeon near the Triangle car park had found a patch of cowparsley to eat.

Vinny the policeman saw an overwintering male Blackcap in the little triangle of shrubbery at the southwest corner of the bridge. I've occasionally seen Blackcaps in the park in winter, but not for several years. Will have a look for it tomorrow.