Wagtails in the rain

A Grey Wagtail hunted midges from a post beside the bridge. This seems to be its favourite place on rainy days.

There were five Pied Wagtails on the north side of the Serpentine, maybe because the wet grass on the Parade Ground was hard for them to run through. Three were around the boat hire platform.

A Starling poked around in the wet grass on the edge of the Rose Garden. There were several here and quite likely they were over an ants' nest.

A Goldcrest dashed about in the arbutus tree in the Dell.

A Wren perched on a twig in the woodland at the foot of Buck Hill.

Both the Blackbirds in the Rose Garden could be seen, for a change not hiding in the bushes. The rain would have brought them out to hunt worms in the wet flower beds, but of course these shy birds wouldn't come down when they were being watched.

A Robin in the Flower Walk was damp but managed a few phrases of song.

The Grey Herons in the west nest were together, but there's still no sign of eggs. One of these herons in the same nest last year with a different mate also failed. There may be a fertility problem, but we'll see what happens.

Pigeon Eater looked down from his perch on the roof of the Dell restaurant.

A Moorhen beside the Serpentine took advantage of the rain to preen its feathers.

Another in the Italian Garden had climbed to the top of a clump of purple loosestrife.

A Coot took yet another bit of dead iris to its mate at the nest in the planter.

The Black Swan followed his Mute girlfriend up the Serpentine. The killer swan had been bothering the others earlier, but had quietened down for a while.

A female Egyptian Goose ranting incessantly on a tree was joined by a screeching Rose-Ringed Parakeet, also female.

A pair of Egyptians on the sawn-off poplar at Peter Pan were quiet for once.

There were three Mandarins on the path near the Physical Energy statue. As you would expect with the drakes, they were chasing each other. The brighter the feathers, the more aggression.