Second pair of herons now sitting

A Grey Heron was sitting in the nest at the east end of the island, so it looks as if breeding is going ahead.

The herons in the upper nest on the island, where they are already sitting on eggs, were changing over. The one that had arrived was turning over the eggs to keep them evenly warmed before settling down.

The third pair don't seem to have started yet -- and, as we have seen in earlier years, they may hang around for months before they decide to go ahead. But I think this is the first time we've had two pairs breeding in December.

These are by no means the only herons, and there are non-breeding ones all around both lakes. One was fishing from the Coot nest at the bridge ...

... and another, seeing a few people eating on the Lido restaurant terrace, had turned up to see if anyone would feed it.

A Lesser Black-Backed Gull at the Triangle was pecking the meat out of a crayfish claw. It didn't have the whole crayfish, so probably it had found the remains of a dead one. The crayfish in the lake are not native but Turkish Crayfish, introduced unoffically many years ago by someone who wanted to catch them and sell them to restaurants, and used to have secret traps which he emptied early in the morning. The population goes through odd boom-and-bust cycles and sometimes you see a lot of dead ones on the shore.

A Black-Headed Gull dived repeatedly. I think it was trying to catch small fish. At one point it brought up a little bit of algae, which it discarded.

A young Cormorant stood on the peculiar blue plastic curves of an electric pedalo at its charging station. They are most un-boatlike craft, looking more like a group of armchairs in the Festival of Britain style of the 1950s.

A pair of Gadwalls dabbled in a patch of dead leaves at the edge of the lake. Both algae and any small creatures they can find in the water are acceptable.

They don't eat grass like the Wigeon that was here. I think this has finally left, as I haven't seen it for two days.

The young Mute Swans on the Long Water were down to the original five again. It looks as if their ferocious parents detected the intruder and chased it away. Let's hope it's all right. I didn't see it on the Serpentine.

The Egyptian Geese in the Italian Garden were keeping a lookout from the urns.

The Coot at Peter Pan has now rebuilt its nest to a respectable size, and was taking a rest. But it will probably resume its obsessional task.

A Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Round Pond came up close. If you stand in the direction they're going and simply stay still they will walk right past your feet.

A Blue Tit was checking twigs. As well as eating any insects or larvae they find, I think they peck bits out of leaf buds. But they don't do much damage, as they are small and there aren't many of them -- unlike the ravaging Rose-Ringed Parakeets, which can wreck a tree.

The Blue Tit in the Rose Garden shrubbery came out to take pine nuts from the ground.

The Robin at the Henry Moore sculpture flew to my hand several times.

Snowdrops have come out in the North Flower Walk. I think these are the genuine wild kind. not the large cultivated variety seem earlier at the Dell.

A touch of colour to relieve a grey day: Ahmet Amerikali photographed this Goldcrest in Southwark Park.