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.