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.