More sound from the Grey Herons' nest

After the first faint clattering of a begging chick several days ago, the Grey Herons' nest on the island has been silent every time I've passed. But today there was quite a lot of noise, louder now. You can never tell whether it's one chick or more -- which it probably is -- from the sound. Often they don't beg together.

The single heron in the nest at the west end of the island was trying to pull off a twig. It's always a struggle for them.

The ice has now completely melted, and the Pochards have returned to the Long Water.

 One of the newly arrived Great Crested Grebes was fishing at the Serpentine outflow, well away from the two resident pairs.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull by the landing stage looked annoyed as Mallards cruised past.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge is now confidently coming to feed from my hand.

The very calm Dunnock was foraging in the cleared ground across the path from the Buck Hill shelter. It takes no notice at all when you lean over the railings and point a camera at it.

A long line of Starlings were enjoying a communal bathe on the edge of the Serpentine.

The female Blackbird, evicted by the destruction of the Rose Garden shrubbery, was digging in a flower bed, but didn't find anything that I could see.

Turf is being laid in the places where the shrubs have been ripped out. I am dubious about the claim that the shrubbery will be reinstated.

The small birds have things a bit easier, as there are still trees and the big hedge on the south side. A Blue Tit found a small larva under some lichen.

It visited a teasel, a useful source of seeds.

The Coal Tit was whizzing around, always very hard to photograph. It was also hard to feed as there were pigeons on the ground, but I eventually got a pine nut to it.

A Robin was also having difficulty with the pigeons, but succeeded later in a flower bed.

The male Chaffinch was also waiting in a flower bed, though his mate was not in sight.

Carrion Crows were rooting in the herbaceous border, looking for insects and worms.

There is always a pair of crows on the edge of the Rotten Row riding track, which were turning over fallen leaves. They came over quick enough when peanuts were offered.

The lawn is always soggy, and part of it gets flooded after rain because of a defective drain. It attracts gulls hoping to bring up worms. A young Lesser Black-Back, just beginning to get dark grey feathers, came over for a drink at the Huntress fountain.