In the wind

It was a very windy day. The Round Pond is on top of a low hill with no trees near the edge so it gets the full force of the blast. A Pied Wagtail hung on to the grass. When it moved it almost got blown away.

Although the pond is only 100 yards wide it get quite choppy. Black-Headed Gulls got bounced about as if they were at sea.

The female Little Owl took one brief look out of her hole ...

... and went back in again.

A young Peregrine on the tower kept on the lee side of the concrete rib.

The Long Water, in a valley and surrounded by trees, is quite sheltered. A Long-Tailed Tit stared seriously from a twig.

This Jay at Peter Pan is only seen occasionally, but knows me well enough to fly down and grab a peanut from my fingers.

The iron fence by the bridge is a favourite fishing spot for a Grey Heron, as there is a little patch of deep water in which fish lurk.

The Great Crested Grebe family on the Long Water had retreated to their nest.

The chicks on the Serpentine were rushing around as usual. I took this series of pictures to show what a large fish a chick can swallow. Sorry about the bad focus on the last shot -- it was the only one I got where there wasn't a parent in front of the chick.

Tom took this picture of a Little Grebe in Regent's Park. They have a much better system than their larger relatives. If something they catch, such as this crayfish, is too large for them or their chicks to swallow, they shake it violently till it disintegrates.

The Coots which nested under the Italian Garden lost all their chicks except one, which is now more or less grown up. They've rebuilt their nest and may be having another go.

The Coot on the nest in the fountain got down for a couple of minutes to have a feed.

A female Mandarin turned up at the Vista. I didn't know there were any on the lake.

This is yesterday's picture of a Mandarin drake in eclipse, with very much the same plumage as a female. But note that the female has a brown bill rather than pink, and that she has a much more strongly marked white eye ring.