Young Little Owl preening

The young Little Owl at the Round Pond was preening in the top of a horse chestnut tree.

A parent was in the lime tree. It's hard to tell which one it is when you can't see its face, but I think it must have been the male as I heard a distinctively female call from the horse chestnut, although I couldn't find the owl that was calling. I don't think the young one would be making adult calls yet.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker called from a dead branch on a tree beside the Steiner bench.

There was a distant view of a Wren on the ground below.

This young Robin in the Rose Garden shrubbery is well on the way to getting its red breast.

The young Carrion Crow near the Serpentine Gallery that is learning to open peanuts has realised that it's easier on a hard surface such as a cast iron drain cover.

The tatty Jay in the Flower Walk is really in a very sad state, but it will have to wait till the autumn for its head feathers to grow back.

The young Grey Herons are getting restless in the confines of their nest and will soon be exploring the branches, even before they are able to fly. One was picking insects out of the nest, which by now is probably heavily infested with them.

The Great Crested Grebes' nest in the water below is still in good order. If all continues to go well we might see chicks in a week's time.

The Mute Swan family were dozing on the gravel strip in the Long Water. A young Black-Headed Gull, clearly unaware of their dreadful reputation, was resting dangerously close to them.

Now that silly people following a TikTok trend are climbing into the Dell, the police have to visit regularly to expel them. The resident foxes have got used to these invasions ...

...though they are obviously relieved to be able to trot about freely when the intruders have gone.

A Common Blue Damselfly in the reeds near the bridge was eating a larva. It's easy to forget that these pretty little creatures are predators as fierce as the larger dragonflies.

(Incidentally, the largest living member of the Odonata is not a dragonfly but a damselfly, the Blue-Winged Helicopter Megaloprepus caerulatus of Central America, which has a wingspan of 8 inches [20 cm].)

Here are four interesting pictures of insects from Duncan Campbell. Red-Eyed Damselflies, usually easy to find in the southeast pool in the Italian Garden, have been scarce this year, but he found a pair mating.

Neither he nor I are sure about this skipper butterfly. The pale fringes on the wings point to its being an Essex Skipper, but these have dark antennae and those of this insect look more as if they belong to a Small Skipper.

And here are two probable Andrena Mining Bees, but it's hard to say which species.

Last, a large bracket fungus in the Rose Garden shrubbery, not attached to a trunk but probably growing on a root. The nearest shrub is a box bush but there is a tangle of all kinds of tree roots here. Later: Mario has provisionally identified it as Ganoderma resinaceum.