The Flower Walk Robin returns

I hadn't seen the familiar Robin the Flower Walk, which used to come to my hand every time I passed, since May and was getting worried that something had happened to it. But there has been a young Robin on the territory, as we have seen a few times in recent days, and this afternoon the adult appeared in a bush and flew over to take several pine nuts as if nothing had happened in the interval.

There has a also been a lack of Blue Tits here, but today two came out in the little side path that leads to the Albert Memorial ...

...as well as the usual Coal Tit often seen in the nearby corkscrew hazel -- a shame I couldn't get a picture without twigs in the way.

This young Robin is the one in the Rose Garden shrubbery, which is gradually becoming bolder.

The male Chaffinch was also there. (This is not the same as the one that regularly appears in Kensington Gardens.)

The Greenfinch family was flying around in the trees north of Peter Pan, and one of them perched on a bare twig in the top of the dead tree.

It was quite windy at the Round Pond, and the Little Owl was perched on a substantial branch to avoid being shaken about. The leaf fragments in the picture aren't flying in the wind. The owl was behind a spider's web, and bits of leaf were caught in it.

A Grey Heron, using an abandoned Coot nest on the Long Water as a fishing platform, caught a very small fish.

The three Great Crested Grebe chicks at the island were with their mother while their father was off fishing for them. So far I haven't seen any of them being given a fish, but they must be getting regularly fed as they are growing visibly. She found a feather on the water and passed it to one of them.

The obstinate Coots at the bridge are still occupying their unsuccessful nest. Even in past years when they've had chicks here these have always been eaten by the Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-Backs that perch on the nearby posts. But Coots are never deterred by experience, and just carry on grimly.

Duncan Campbell reports that the Coots in the northwest pool in the Italian Garden are breeding again and have five or six eggs. This is a much safer spot, and three of the four main pools have produced chicks this year most of which are still alive.

The Greylag and Canada Geese in the park have learnt that the numerous big gulls on the lake make it more or less impossible to bring up goslings, and have taken to breeding outside the park and bringing in their young as soon as they can fly. Here are two newly arrived teenagers following their mother. Geese, unlike swans, can fly before they're fully grown.

One of them had a splashy wash and flap.

There is a group of four Canada x Greylag hybrid geese on the Serpentine, apparently siblings. Three of them had a disagreement with aome Canadas and honked and gestured angrily. Then the fourth joined them, apparently with a Canada mate. This union won't produce any goslings, as goose hybrids from different genera are sterile.

One of the Tufted ducklings could be seen near the Vista. Th rest of the family was under a bush. I still don't know how many have survived as they spend so much time under water, but when I could see more of the family yesterday there were at least six.

There was no dragonfly excitement today, but an ordinary male Black-Tailed Skimmer could be seen enjoying the sun-warmed kerb at the Vista. Yes, it does have four wings. You can just see its right hind wing angled down behind its left hind wing. They can move all four wings completely independently, the secret of their amazing manoeuvrability.

A Speckled Wood butterfly perched on the railings in the Flower Walk in the place where there evidently they breed, as there are always Speckled Woods here in the season. Their beautifully patterned wings look equally fine from underneath with the light shining through them.

A patch of catmint in the Rose Garden attracts a lot of bees, especially Buff-Tailed Bumblebees.

The Saturday Latin dancing in the park has now spread from the traditional dance in the Hyde Park bandstand to a much looser and more riotous crowd on the area below. I don't know what they are doing but everyone seems to be having a good time.