A proper autumn day

A grey showery day punctuated by a heavy thunderstorm didn't produce any notable pictures. It was a surprise to find the female Little Owl at the Round Pond out in the horse chestnut tree when it had only just stopped raining and the wind was tossing the branches around. She is now perching in a different place every day, making it interesting to find her.

A Pied Wagtail was scooting around on the grass below.

The young Grey Wagtail whizzed in from the Serpentine and landed at the top of the Dell waterfall to pick up midges being washed over the edge.

At the bottom of the Dell the young Blackbird was digging another hole in the wood chips under the big old ash tree.

The dominant Robin in the Flower Walk has seen off his rivals, and arrived unchallenged to collect pine nuts from my hand.

The usual male Chaffinch stood in the middle of the path to demand his daily treat.

Jackdaws also block your way until you feed them. A small group appeared on each side of the Serpentine to collect peanuts.

The path was also obstructed by a young Lesser Black-Backed Gull quite deliberately lying in people's way to make them walk round it. I think this is a dominance game to show that gulls rule.

A young Herring Gull played with a bit of soggy paper.

The marble fountain in the Italian Garden has broken down yet again. A Black-Headed Gull stood on the top.

The electric pumps operating the fountains in the park seem to be fantastically unreliable. At least one of them is always out of order, and for a while recently it was three.

The charging station for the electric pedalos is now always occupied by a Grey Heron looking over the edge for fish.

The Great Crested Grebes on the Serpentine had as usual split into two groups to feed the chicks. They happened to meet by some moored boats.

Their mother went off to search for small fish swimming just under the surface.

You can tell a lot about the progress of a Coot's nest by the enthusiasm with which it's maintained. The nest on the post at Peter Pan has been built up to a considerable height, so much that you wonder about its stability since it's balanced on a chain.

The nest under the Italian Garden, also very large, has been given a new lining of green leaves. Evidently both pairs think their eggs are doing well.

The gusty wind over the Serpentine encouraged the Mute Swans to do a bit of flying -- a headwind considerably reduces the effort of taking off. One splashed down in a cloud of spray.

The number of Red-Crested Pochard drakes at the island has gone up from six to eight.

A little group of Gadwalls rested by the Triangle. If it had been three Mallard drakes and one female, even outside the breeding season the drakes would have been bickering, but Gadwalls are quite peaceful creatures.