Robin subsong

A Robin in the corkscrew hazel in the Flower Walk sang very softly to itself.

There was also a Robin under a flower bed in the Rose Garden. Both came out to take pine nuts thrown on the ground.

This is the Great Tit that follows me around the Rose Garden. He has a mate who sometimes turns up too. He pecked daintily at a pine nut I gave him. They like to make these delicacies last, and don't just swallow them whole as they could.

A Magpie pecked at a small area of ground and was evidently finding something to eat. After it had flown off I looked at the ground and saw a solitary ant which it had missed, so evidently there is a nest here.

The usual Chaffinch turned up at Mount Gate, impatient to be fed.

This is the place on the east side of the Long Water where people come to feed the Rose-Ringed Parakeets, and it's now absolutely infested with them even when there aren't any people. Food spilt on the ground has now attracted a colony of rats.

The Little Owl by the Round Pond was buffeted by the wind in her horse chestnut tree, but hung on amid the flailing leaves.

One Little Grebe could be seen diving on the pond. I'm beginning to think it's the only one now and the other three have flown away, though it's odd that the group should split up.

A Grey Heron perched halfway up a willow opposite Peter Pan. It was too high to fish and too low to get a good view, but for some reason they like willows and are often seen in one.

The Black-Headed Gull with the rings was hatched on a lake at Hobšovice, a few miles northwest of Prague, in 2021, and was given the metal ring ET05.589. It migrated to Hyde Park in its first winter, presumably with some unringed gulls from the same place, and has been here every year since. Last year Bill Haines caught it and put on a plastic ring, Orange 2V57. I haven't seen it with a potential mate before. The flirting couple were rudely interrupted by a young Herring Gull.

Pigeon Eater is now fully in winter plumage with a grey-streaked head. His bright yellow legs fade slightly in winter but are always noticeable.

He was with his mate and also the persistent odd-coloured Lesser Black-Back with pale eyes. It refuses to be scared off, so he'll just have to put up with it. It doesn't hunt pigeons, or at least not yet.

The Black Swan was resting on the edge at the Triangle with another swan. He was courting a female on the Round Pond before he returned to the Serpentine, but I don't know whether this one is the same.

A skein of Greylag Geese flew past the island.

There were few insects despite quite warm sunshine. I saw one Migrant Hawker dragonfly near the Italian Garden. A patch of oxeye daisies in the Rose Garden attracted a Honeybee ...

... and a Greenbottle fly.

There was a large clump of autumn crocuses -- which are not crocuses at all, and are the unrelated species Colchicum autumnale.

All parts of the plant are poisonous, The Victorian murderer Catherine Wilson is thought to have used it to poison several victims. It was also used fictionally in a Dr Thorndyke mystery, where it was pointed out that there are no symptoms for 20 minutes, allowing a convenient getaway.

The ground under the ginkgo tree in the shrubbery was littered with little yellow plum-like fruit. It stinks abominably, and if you are careless enough to touch one you will need to scrub your hands with hot water and soap to get rid of the smell.

The rings of the Fairy Ring mushrooms at the Round Pond ...

... are so large and strongly marked that they show up in the satellite pictures on Google Maps.

House Martins hanging on

On a chilly dark grey day it was a surprise to see some House Martins still over the Round Pond. It's high time they were off to the south.

At least one Little Grebe was there, as usual by the number 8 buoy. It objected to a Black-Headed Gull on the buoy, and somehow managed to browbeat it down into the water ...

... and chase it away.

The Little Owl looked out of her hole.

Pigeon Eater was back at the Dell restaurant shooing the other gulls off his territory.

Two young Lesser Black-Backs wisely retreated before he went for them.

It can be quite difficult telling a juvenile Lesser Black-Back ...

... from a Herring Gull of the same age.

Lesser Black-Backs are slightly smaller and darker. If you see one of them flying, it's easier as young Herring Gulls have pale inner primaries and the wings of Lesser Black-Backs are dark all along the trailing edge. However, these two gulls are in their second winter and if you look carefully at their backs, you can just see the first dark grey feathers beginning to grow on the Lesser Black-Back and pale grey on the Herring Gull.

This young Grey Heron on the Long Water still has some of its spiky juvenile crest, and I think it must be one of the three from the latest nest starting to explore the lake. The older herons hatched this year are already smoother.

The two Great Crested Grebe chicks here have slightly unusual patterns in the stripes on their face, with a black circle in front of the eye. This will disappear soon as their adult feathers begin to grow.

A young Cormorant at Peter Pan had an unusually bright white front.

The male and female Blackbirds in the Rose Garden shrubbery rummaged around in fallen leaves.

A Robin on a hawthorn twig was annoyed by the dreary thump of the music played by the Sunday rollerskaters. 'How do you expect me to sing with that racket going on?'

A handsomely marked black and white Feral Pigeon wandered around on the edge of the Serpentine.

The Grey Wagtail was in the Dell pool having a bathe.

It was only there for seconds before some people looked over the parapet and scared it away, so I didn't have the chance of better pictures.

As so often on a Sunday there were strange goings-on in the Buck Hill shelter.

A chance view looking between the legs of the Physical Energy horse. The building with the cupola is in Knightbridge not far from the barracks, and I think the boring tower is in Victoria. The peculiar yellow structure is part of a builder's crane.

Kingfisher on the Long Water

The new pair of Peregrines were on the barracks again, quite far apart so they had to be photographed separately. The new female is darker than the late one ...

... though not as dark as the male, who has hardly any white on the side of his head.

There was a brief glimpse of a Kingfisher speeding up the Long Water. I couldn't see where it perched.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond was deep in the horse chestnut tree and impossible to photograph in the morning, but later moved to a slightly better place.

A pair of Jackdaws chattered on her nest tree. I don't think they bother her, unlike Carrions Crows and Magpies which are a sore trial for owls.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker called from a dead tree behind the Queen's Temple. It flew away before I could get any closer.

The mate of the familiar Robin in the Flower Walk was occupying his tree while he was away. She came to my hand twice.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull was patrolling the shore under its favourite post on the south shore of the Serpentine. It has visited the lake every winter for several years and has become a very dominant bird.

The Grey Herons' nest was empty, but then one of the young ones flew in. They're still returning to be fed, and I haven't seen one fishing yet.

A Cormorant shone in a sunny spell as it preened on a post at Peter Pan.

Two Moorhens and a young one vied with a Coot to eat a floating apple.

Moorhens love climbing, and this one was preening on the top of a bush at the Vista.

The Black Swan was at the Triangle titivating his ruffles.

The Common Wasps' nest here is still busy.

A Willow Emerald damselfly perched in a yew near Peter Pan.

A Marmalade Fly visited the autumn crocuses at the southwest corner of the bridge.

Mario drew my attention to these curious fungi on the opposite side of the shrubbery. They are Earthstars, of which there are 15 species in Britain. He thinks it's the Crowned Earthstar, Geastrum coronatum.

Has the Peregrine found love?

There were two Peregrines on the tower, both adults. The one on the right seems to be the male who lost his mate, with his dark colouring and hardly any white on the side of his head. And on the left, it looks as if he has already found a new mate to share the abundant pigeons in his territory.

One of the young Grey Herons on the island had come right down from the nest, this first time I've seen one of this brood at ground level. There were no birds in the nest or in the nearby branches, so evidently they've all come down.

An adult flew into an old Magpie nest at the Triangle.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond looked down from the top of the horse chestnut tree.

I was wrong about all the Little Grebes having gone from the pond. There was one hanging around a buoy.

But it was the only one I could see. You'd expect the four to fly in and out together, so the others were probably around somewhere lurking behind buoys and water intake pipes. They are easy to miss, as they spend more time submerged than on the surface.

One of the Great Crested Grebe chicks from the Long Water was under the bridge.

It came out on the far side to pester its father. It's beginning to follow him under water, which is essential for learning fishing skills.

This young Herring Gull is quite grown up enough to find its on food but was still begging at its parent, causing visible irritation.

The odd-coloured Lesser Black-Back was again lording it over the Dell restaurant. Pigeon Eater was still away. There will probably be a serious dispute when he comes back.

Common Gulls arrive first on the Round Pond, then later on the main lake. There were two on the buoys at the Lido, the first I've seen here this autumn.

The Robin in the Flower Walk who seems to be the dominant Robin's mate is now behaving just like him, attacking all the Great Tits in the nearby bushes.

There was a new Robin at the end of the upper level of the bridge. It came out to take a pine nut from the parapet.

A pair of Pochards looked at each other on a fallen tree in the Long Water. There are only a few females among the many drakes.

One of the foxes appeared for a moment into the Dell, slinking into the bushes.

The sunshine lit the carp in the Italian Garden.

It was quite warm and I saw seven Migrant Hawker dragonflies making the most of the day. One perched on a bramble near Peter Pan.

There were also two Willow Emerald damselflies. This one was on the Peter Pan railings.

I've seen this cyclist in the park before. Every time he appears there are more ornaments on his bike. It must be quite hard to ride.