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.