Grey Wagtail on the waterfall

A young Grey Wagtail at the top of the Dell waterfall was catching small creatures as they were swept over the edge.

A still picture shows that they were midges resting on the surface of the water.

A Moorhen lower down in the stream was hunting for the same creatures -- and for just about anything as they are not fussy eaters.

There was a strong wind, especially over the exposed Round Pond, and I didn't think the Little Owl would be out. But there she was, on her usual sheltered branch.

I haven't seen the Hobbies for two days. Maybe they are already on their way to Africa. There has been no sign of the Peregrines either, and I guess that the young ones have been thrown out of the territory and their widowed father is off looking for a new mate.

This is the same Robin in the Flower Walk as in yesterday's picture, and just as impatient to be fed instead of photographed.

Another Robin in the corkscrew hazel bush will fly down and take pine nuts from the ground.

A Jay in an oak near the Henry Moore sculpture waited to swoop down and snatch a peanut from my hand.

A Jackdaw appeared in a new place, near the boat hire platform, but it knew me and came down for a nut. I think the brown leaves on the small lime tree are due to its being a sickly tree, not because of the onset of autumn.

But there are already plenty of fallen leaves after a dry spell. A young Wood Pigeon browsed in the grass near the Serpentine Gallery. It still doesn't have a adult's white neck ring, but its originally dark eyes are starting to lighten.

Pigeon Eater is beginning to go into his winter plumage, with grey flecks on his head.

A young Herring Gull fished up a bit of brick from the bottom of the lake and played with it.

The southeast corner of the Serpentine is full of brick rubble. Some years ago there was a silly Red Bull birdman event in the lake, and they spilt several tons of rubble which they had been using as ballast for the platform. The park management slackly didn't make them clear it up.

The Grey Heron chicks were hunkered down in their nest as the wind blasted over them.

The wind had also brought the Great Crested Grebe family together to shelter in the lee of the island.

During a calmer moment, the grebes at the east end of the lake had a little display.

The Long Water is sheltered by trees, and the family here were not disturbed.

A Greylag Goose family were eating reeds.

There has been a late boom in the Common Carder bee population, and they are particularly fond of the catmint patch in the Rose Garden.

A robot dog could cope with stepping down a kerb on to loose sand, but having to step up on the other side of the road brought it down with a crash. It was sent back to scan the obstacle, and this time managed to walk up it. A real dog was not amused.

The robot is a Unitree Go2, and if you want one it will set you back over £7000.

Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher

A Common Sandpiper perched in a dead tree opposite Peter Pan. They are only occasional visitors to the park, which is not a good place for wading birds.

While I was looking for it through the viewfinder, a male Kingfisher appeared.

Tom got a much better picture of a male Kingfisher at Rainham Marshes, where twigs have been arranged beside artificial nest holes at one of the hides.

It's not the time of year for singing, but a Starling in a plane tree beside the Serpentine was outside the hole where it had nested earlier and felt like claiming its territory.

A crowd of Starlings on the Lido restaurant terrace waited on the umbrellas for a chance to grab some scraps. Some were washing in the lake.

The familiar Robin in the Flower Walk was impatient at being photographed instead of fed at once.

A Jackdaw ate a peanut in the oak tree at the southwest corner of the bridge.

The big flock of Jackdaws concentrated on the south side of the Round Pond has broken up and they are now seen in various places, still mostly in Kensington Gardens though you see the occasional one right at the east end of Hyde Park in the Rose Garden.

The female Little Owl was in the usual horse chestnut tree, today on a higher branch so you could get a better view of her. I accidentally annoyed her by getting too close, which I try not to do.

Two of the Grey Heron chicks at the island were milling around in the nest, and a small patch of grey fluff visible outside this picture showed that the third one was behind a hawthorn branch. Their flight feathers aren't fully out yet.

The Great Crested Grebe family on the Long Water were by their nest in the poplar. Their mother gave one of those characteristic grebe shrugs.

One of the chicks on the Serpentine collected a small carp.

It's not just ducks that like duckweed. A young Moorhen was happily scooping it up in the lake by the Italian Garden.

On the other side of the lake the nesting Coot was busy turning the eggs. I couldn't see how many there are now.

It looks as if the Coots nesting for the third time at Peter Pan have eggs too, judging from the amount of fussing about the sitting bird does. A Black-Headed Gull screamed at it from the top of the post.

A robber fly perched on the frame of the notice here that illustrates the birds of the Long Water. It was holding a smaller fly it had caught. There are many species of robber fly and I can't guess which one it was but it was quite large. Later: Duncan Campbell suggests that it's a Kite-Tailed Robber Fly, Tolmerus atricapillus, and that seems very likely.

Common Blue Damselflies mated on a floating leaf below. The male lost his footing and plunged the female's head under water, but that didn't matter as they breathe through their abdomen.

Willow Emerald Damselflies were also mating on a twig.

At the southwest corner of the bridge a Banded Demoiselle landed on a leaf.

The backward young heron comes out at last

One of the adult Hobbies was in the plane tree avenue near the Physical Energy statue, with its back turned so I couldn't get a picture. It flew out and I managed to grab a hasty shot ...

... then it went over to join its mate in another plane tree.

The female Little Owl at the Round Pond looked down sedately from her usual branch.

A Robin perched on a high twig overlooking the Diana fountain car park, ticking occasionally to remind other Robins to keep out of its territory.

A Jay beside the Long water waited to fly down and grab a peanut.

The three Grey Heron chicks were standing in their nest.

The backward young heron in the previous nest has finally left. Someone was feeding the herons with fresh fish beside the island and I'm fairly sure I saw it among them. It's reassuring that it's getting help, as it has a lot of catching up to do before it can support itself.

Another young heron, I think from the second nest, was at the Henry Moore sculpture looking for insects in the grass.

However, this is now the territory of an adult, who has taken over after the death of the very old heron who used to own it, and was perched on the sculpture.

The young heron disrespectfully screeched at it, then flew away before a fight could break out.

Yesterday David Element was photographing a Cormorant fishing in one of the Italian Garden pools. It caught a carp and he managed to get a picture before the bird swallowed it, no mean feat as they gulp it down in an instant.

After eating its fill it decided to fly out, but after a heavy meal and with wet feathers it couldn't take off in the confined space of the pool. After a couple of unsuccessful runs it had to stand and partly dry its wings, and then just managed to get airborne.

The Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water have been keeping their chicks under the bushes till today, but now judge them to be old enough to come out into the open. The chicks were still sticking very close to their father while their mother was away finding fish for them.

The chicks on the Serpentine are considerably older than the ones on the Long Water and are now wandering around by themselves when they aren't begging their parents to feed them. This one was several hundred yards away from its mother, but both adults and chicks have loud calls and can keep in touch.

The family assembled loosely by the terrace of the Lido restaurant, with mother in charge while father went off fishing. The chicks were picking up feathers from the water, a normal part of a grebe's diet to wrap up sharp fishbones.

Normally if a Moorhen got this close to a Coot, the Coot would attack it. But these two by the Italian Garden seemed to have declared a temporary truce so they could have a preen.

The six teenage Mute Swans were feeding by the drain outlet at the Vista, a favoured spot as the turbulent flow brings up small water creatures.

Another fine picture from David Element in the Italian Garden: Common Blue Damselflies mating with the female laying eggs in the water. Note that this female is a completely different colour from the pale blue one shown in yesterday's blog.

The wooden balustrade of the Serpentine Gallery is being handsomely restored. The rails and panels were rotten and are being completely replaced, but most of the balusters are original and only needed cleaning and repainting. One of the workmen told me that they are made from mahogany, so no wonder. The building, originally a café called the Cake House, was completed in 1934, a time when people still built to last.

Hobbies ranging widely

The Hobbies were flying all over the park and I saw them three times in different places. This is one of the adults circling over the Long Water.

The female Little Owl at the Round Pond was on her current favourite perch in the horse chestnut.

But just when you think an owl has got into a settled habit it changes its preference and you have to look for it again.

A young Blackbird looked down from the iron gate of the Lido swimming area. It's been quite a good year for Blackbird breeding, but they remain sadly scarce compared to the hundreds in the park 50 years ago.

I was wrong about there being two chicks in the fourth Grey Heron nest on the island, and the third chick being a visitor from the previous nest. To be fair, it's hard to see into the nest, as the right side of it is hidden by hawthorn branches. Today the whole family came into view and there are three chicks, of different sizes as no doubt the strongest get fed more and grow faster.

In this video their parents can be seen feeding them by discharging predigested fish down their throats. The teenage chick from the third nest flew in and tried to get a free lunch, but was instantly chased out by the parents.

The teenager from the second nest was on the shore panting to cool down on a fairly hot afternoon.

Pigeon Eater was in his usual place by the Dell restaurant, and had chased off all the other large gulls on to the moored boats a hundred years away ...

... except for two young Lesser Black-Backs. The larger one was pecking at the scanty remains of Pigeon Eater's breakfast, keeping the other at a distance. It stood on the shore looking wistful.

The three Great Crested Grebe chicks at the island are almost full grown now, but will need to be fed for some time yet. This one at the island with its mother was quiet for about ten seconds before it started begging again ...

... and chased her all along the island before they disappeared round the corner.

It's amazing how patiently their parents put up with their incessant squeaking. The parents take turns to feed two: yesterday it was the father's turn to have them while she looked after one.

The three chicks on the Long Water were at their nest with their father.

 

There are two other pairs of grebes on the lake which have not found a nest site, one on the Long Water by the bridge and this pair at the east end of the Serpentine.

A Cormorant shone in the sunlight as it preened on a post at Peter Pan.

There was a good array of insects in the Italian Garden, including two male Migrant Hawker dragonflies and a female. This is a male on a great willowherb stem in one of the planters.

A male Willow Emerald damselfly was on another stem in the same planter. Unlike other damselflies they don't seem to be able to fold their wings fully, and never get them back farther than about 45°.

A female Common Blue damselfly rested on an iris leaf. Females come in different colours: this is a blue one, but paler than the uniformly blue males.

A Common Carder bee browsed in a patch of purple loosestrife.