Windy day

It was a very windy day and most of the small birds were keeping their heads down in the bushes, but there was cherry blossom in the Flower Walk and a Great Tit perched decoratively in it.

A pair of Long-Tailed Tits were bustling around in the bushes on the north edge of the Rose Garden. There is always at least one nest here every year, and in the past we have been able to find some of them and get pictures of the building of these elaborate structures.

Ahmet Amerikali got pictures of a Coal Tit in a yew ...

... and a Goldcrest in holly at the southwest corner of the bridge.

On Saturday Tom photographed a female Siskin in the alders near the Italian Garden where we saw them a few days ago. I've been checking the trees since then but haven't found any more.

Another picture by Tom, our one and only Grey Wagtail on the rocks at the top of the Dell waterfall.

Today there was just a Moorhen here ...

... but a Pied Wagtail was hunting along the edge of Serpentine. It looked carefully over the kerb before taking chances with the choppy waves breaking on the shore.

The Grey Herons' nest at the east end of the island had a sitting bird in it. Before jumping to the conclusion that they've already got eggs, you have to consider that this nest is facing into a howling northeast wind and the heron may just have been keeping out of the blast.

However, at the nest with young, a parent was standing on the upper nest in the teeth of the wind. You can just see one of the young birds wisely keeping down in the lower nest.

At the east edge of the Parade Ground the people laying new turf have added and graded fresh topsoil in an effort to improve the drainage on the impervious clay soil -- the east side of the Parade Ground is often flooded. The new soil attracted a crowd of Herring Gulls and a Lesser Black-Back looking for worms.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull had come down from his favourite perch on the No Swimming sign to have a drink.

There was a Coot with one leg on the boat hire platform. Coots sometimes break legs in their savage fights.

The Black Swan, recently down from the Round Pond with his white girlfriend, preened on the edge of the Serpentine in the strong wind ruffling his ruffles even more. He called to his girlfriend, who was nearby, and she came over. She really does like this peculiar hooting foreigner.

The male Egyptian Goose in the Italian Garden kept up his lonely vigil on the bowl of the marble fountain.

One more picture from Ahmet, a male Great Spotted Woodpecker at Russia Dock Woodlands.

A new notice near the Albert Memorial giving information about the structure shows an engraving of the 'prospect mount' constructed by Charles Bridgeman when he was improving Kensington Gardens in the early 18th century. I found the original drawing on the web -- it was done by Bernard Lens in 1732. The summerhouse on top of the mount could be revolved to face the sun, no doubt requiring a troop of servants to shift it.

The mount was demolished by the end of the century when the trees had grown tall and blocked the view. All that remains is some low hummocks of earth to the east of the much later Albert Memorial and the name Mount Gate for the gate south of the Serpentine Gallery.