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.