Swifts and Sand Martins

A windy day brought the insects down low over the Round Pond, and Swifts and Sand Martins zoomed over the surface in pursuit of them.

A closer view of a Swift ...

... and a Sand Martin.

There didn't seem to be any House Martins, though there were some over the Serpentine from the small colony at the Kuwaiti Embassy in Knightsbridge.

The young Pied Wagtail and its father, feeding on the edge of the Serpentine by the Lido restaurant terrace, had to fly off when a Carrion Crow strolled down the edge.

It was too windy for any Little Owls to show, but a young Carrion Crow could be heard in the nest in the owl tree at the Serpentine Gallery, and a parent perched next to the nest in the drizzle.

It would be good if the young crows grow up soon and leave the nest so that the owls can have a go at breeding.

This Jay on a bench in the Flower Walk is now a regular customer for peanuts, and I hope it will soon be grabbing them from my hand in flight. It nearly did today but sheered off at the last moment.

One of the young Grey Herons was on the edge of the Serpentine by the boat hire platform ...

... and the other was with an adult in a tree by the Long Water.

As you can see, the tree is a Black Poplar. It became uprooted and fell into the lake but still had roots in the ground and has remained alive in a horizontal position. The poplar at the Vista was not so lucky, and when it fell all the roots were detached, so it died. It remains a useful perch for birds but will fall to pieces in a few years.

The Great Crested Grebe chick on the Long Water is now chasing its parents over the lake, though they still remain on the far side and I haven't had the chance of a decent picture.

One of the teenage Coots in the Italian Garden fountains preened by a clump of water lilies.

The Coot nesting on the chain at the bridge was turning over the eggs.

The Black Swan is now completely deserted by his former girlfriend, though he still associates with the Mute Swans on the Serpentine and hoots hopefully at them.

The killer's family on the Long Water were by the upper reed bed, looking misleadingly sweet and innocent.

But I couldn't see any cygnets on the Serpentine at all, and I fear that the killer may have murdered them all, accounting for four in a single day. Later the family moved on to the Serpentine.

Update: Jon Ferguson say that the swans on the Serpentine are carrying their cygnets on their backs to keep them safe. Still great danger, though. It will be hard to see what's going on, so if anyone has any definite news tomorrow please put it in the comments.

Uncomfortably near the killer, the Canada Geese with three goslings stood on either side of their young in a watchful attitude.

The four younger Egyptian goslings are still all right and are now growing quickly.

So are the older four. The two larger ones are now well into their first proper plumage and one of the smaller ones is on the way, but the smallest is lagging behind and shows no sign of changing yet.

A pan over the scene at the bottom of the Parade Ground, where most of the Egyptians are gathered. There are also some Greylags, with more arriving on the lake daily as they arrive to moult their flight feathers in the safety of the lake.

The usual two Canadas were on the raft on the Long Water, which is now disintegrating rapidly. It was built in halves and will probably break up when the last of its frame falls off.

Young Pied Wagtail

There was a young Pied Wagtail at the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace.

This is probably its father hunting just along the shore.

At the northwest corner of the bridge a large brood of Great Tit fledglings fluttered their wings and called frantically to be fed. In the middle of the chaos a young Robin perched quietly on a twig.

Another young Robin stared gravely from the Dell.

A female Great Spotted Woodpecker called from an oak behind the Albert Memorial.

As I arrived at the Round Pond the male Little Owl flew over and landed on his usual perch in the lime tree.

This Feral Pigeon retains the pattern of the original Rock Dove with two wing bars but is faded to brown. Like most birds, pigeons have two kinds of melanin pigment, eumelanin which is black and phaeomelanin which is ginger. This colour scheme is caused by a lack of eumelanin.

The Coot nesting on the chain at the bridge had restored things to normal by rolling the eggs up into the middle of the nest so they could be properly sat on. Its mate had brought it a pair of sunglasses.

A Moorhen washed, flapped and preened in the reeds under the Italian Garden fountains.

The Mute Swans on the Long Water have lost a cygnet and are down to six.

The pair at the Lido restaurant have also lost one and have two left.

There are two at the landing stage, the same number as yesterday, but I am told that there were four originally.

I was wrong about it being one of the Canada goslings that was limping. It was the youngest Greylag. Today it was walking normally but probably its leg is still a bit painful, because when it had found a good tuft of grass it sat down to feed.

The gang of five Mallard teenagers were at the Vista eating the leaves on a bush. You can just see the fifth one at top left.

The clumps of Stachys in the Rose Garden were thronged with Buff-Tailed Bumblebees.

A patch of Salvia (one of the many kinds in the park) was also full of bumblebees. Conehead 54 reckons that this is an Early Bumblebee, though its characteristic red 'tail' is out of the picture...

... and that this is a Vestal Cuckoo Bee. I'm sure that continued snapping would have produced half a dozen other species from the hundreds of bees in the garden.

A rather tattered Red Admiral butterfly rested on the lawn by the Albert Memorial.

Anting

A Carrion Crow bathed in ants from a nest on the lawn at Mount Gate. Other birds also do this. It seems that the formic acid exuded by the ants reduces the number of their feather parasites, though it's not clear how this works.

Above it, a Blackbird sang in a treetop. It's near the end of their singing season, a pity as their song is one of the glories of an English spring.

A young Robin came out under a tree in the Rose Garden.

A Jay appeared in the trees at the southwest corner of the bridge. This isn't one of their usual places, and the Jay didn't seem eager to be fed, so it's probably a new arrival.

The male Little Owl at the Round Pond was in the lime tree again. I do hope this is a sign that his mate is nesting in their usual dead tree, which is only 30 feet away and on this perch he is facing it. The Stock Doves remain in the tree but they aren't a threat to the owls, though maybe a slight nuisance.

Pigeon Eater was back on the Dell restaurant roof with his mate. They are spending less time here, probably because the local Feral Pigeons are wise to his behaviour so it's easier for him to catch them elsewhere.

I finally managed to find the Great Crested Grebes with two chicks at the Lido. I arrived just in time to see a chick being given a fish ...

... which seemed too large but the chick did manage to swallow it.

The family crossed the lake to the island and amused themselves by ousting a Coot from its nest. Usually the Coot wouldn't bother to move, but birds with chicks are known to be aggressive.

The Coot family from the Mute Swans' nesting island in the Long Water fed in the reed bed on the other side of the lake.

The female swan was preening on the island with her cygnets following suit.

There are new cygnets on the nest by the Diana fountain landing stage. I was told there are three, but I only managed to get a picture with two of them.

The swan at the other end of the reed bed by the Lido restaurant was on the nest with her three.

With the killer swan out of the way looking after his family on the Long Water they are temporarily safe, but we saw him yesterday only 50 yards from the restaurant nest.

The Canada Geese with three goslings were passing the Lido. One of the goslings was recently seen limping, but when they got out it proved to be only a very slight limp and it seems that it's recovering.

A pair were on the raft in the Long Water, which is now rapidly falling to bits.

A Holly Blue butterfly fed on a deutzia blossom at Mount Gate.

The catmint in the Rose Garden is now in flower and was full of Buff-Tailed Bumblebees.

New cygnets

The Mute Swans who nested in an uncomfortably public place next to the terrace of the Lido restaurant have managed to hatch three cygnets. An egg visible on the left is probably a dud. A moment of alarm was caused by a passing Grey Heron.

However, there's probably more danger from the killer swan, who has a history of murdering other swans' cygnets -- and for that matter their parents. His mate was out on the Serpentine with her seven, not far from the nest at the Lido.

A female Mallard had unexpectedly laid an egg on the edge. There was no chance of incubating it, so the pair just abandoned it. An Egyptian Goose poked it curiously.

A drizzly day kept people and dogs out of the park, allowing the Greylag Geese with two goslings ...

... and one to browse in the long grass some way back from the shore. The Canada helper is still with the second pair.

The Canadas with three and one had gone a long way up the bank. In this exposed place they were keeping a very careful lookout for a dog in the distance.

The Great Crested Grebe chick on the Long Water could be seen distantly through the murk. I still haven't managed to see or hear the pair with two chicks on the Serpentine.

The Coot nesting at the bridge seems to be down to one chick, and there was no sign of the very large number of eggs that were in the nest hatching, or even how many of them remain.

Zooming out shows a possible source of danger on the railings.

You can also see the stones that were knocked off the bridge by the car accident just after Christmas, The delay in repairs is not the park's fault: restorers of historic buildings are rare and kept very busy, and you have to wait for a slot in their schedule.

The two young Grey Herons were in their usual place on the baskets. Let's hope they are starting to catch their own fish in their new independence.

The second nest at the east end of the island ought to be hatching soon.

There's already one odd pair of a Lesser Black-Backed Gull and a Herring Gull on the lake, but it looks as if we have a new pair. The Herring Gull is young and still not in full adult plumage.

Mistle Thrushes have been very scarce recently, and it was a surprise to see one foraging under the Henry Moore sculpture. It's looking darker than normal because it's wet from the drizzle.

The Coal Tit at the northwest corner of the bridge is interested in me feeding the Great Tits, but hasn't yet dared to come down. It probably will in time.

The Great Tits who chase me constantly round the Rose Garden now have a family to feed.

A Chaffinch under the tree was surprised to find himself being photographed.

The drizzle didn't deter a hardy Buff-Tailed Bumblebee from browsing on Stachys flowers, one of their favourite plants.