Spotted Flycatcher

There was a report of a Spotted Flycatcher on the upper part of the Vista between the Physical Energy statue and the Round Pond. I didn't find it there, but by chance came across it in a holly tree near the Queen's Temple.

(Heaven knows why these rather plain birds are called 'Spotted'. Great Spotted Woodpeckers aren't spotted either.)

The Hobbies were only distantly audible and I didn't see them, so here is a picture taken by Joel Davis a few days ago of the whole family together on a plane branch.

A first visit to the Round Pond didn't find a Little Owl, but when I went back the female flew over my head into the nest hole and started preening.

People were feeding the Rose-Ringed Parakeets in the usual place near the Steiner bench beside the Long Water, and someone had brought some strawberries, which are oddly disliked by many birds. The parakeets had dropped them on the ground. A Wood Pigeon, a bird that will eat just about any fruit, gave one a look and walked by.

The rats which cluster round the mess made by the parakeet feeders were equally uninterested in the strawberries. This fairly small rat completely dominated the squirrels and chased them away whenever they came close.

A Jackdaw came out at the back of the Lido. I think there is a pair here, but no more. Most of them are in Kensington Gardens.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull was on the landing stage by the Diana fountain. There was no other gull within 100 yards.

The two young Grey Herons from the third nest on the island had flown up into the fourth nest, where there are two much younger chicks. It's not at all clear why they did this. Have their parents stopped feeding them on their own nest, and they were hoping for attention in this one? They wouldn't get it, they'd be chased out as soon as an adult arrived.

A heron was standing next to the abandoned Coot nest by the bridge, looking for small fish in the wire basket filled with twigs which was installed as a hatchery and is indeed full of fish.

One of the Great Crested Grebe chicks on the Serpentine was taking a rest with its father under a pedalo, but the other two could be heard in the middle of the lake.

The chicks on the Long Water were chivvying their father. A Common Pochard drake hung around nearby.

There are a lot of Pochards on the lake. A count on Saturday found 87 on the Long Water and another two on the Serpentine. A drake cruised under the bridge.

The Coot in the nest on the post at Peter Pan always has a Black-Headed Gull hanging around. Perhaps it's hoping to pick some insects out of the nest when the Coot is looking the other way.

The nest under the Italian Garden is a busy place. It has probably been built up too much to see how many eggs there are in it even when the Coot stands up.

However, the nest in the fountain is now empty and deserted.

Two good pictures from Ahmet Amerikali. A Cormorant was carrying a twig. They have no intention of nesting in the park, but presenting a twig to a mate is a bonding ritual.

The two young foxes stood on the rocks in the Dell. These rocks are not part of a natural formation, but were brought in as an ornament when the Dell was landscaped in the 1880s.

A Garden Spider rested on its web at the southwest corner of the bridge.