Fighting Moorhens

Moorhens are less belligerent than Coots but they do fight, and in the same way. It's a slight surprise to see the weaker one diving to get out of the way, as they seldom dive in other circumstances. An inconclusive encounter led to them mooning each other with the white feathers on their behind, a standard Moorhen gesture of defiance.

A more peaceful scene: the pair at the Vista were in the bush where they will probably nest later.

Another preened in the reed bed under the Italian Garden.

Two Cormorants were fishing nearby, though not catching anything while I was there. They never all leave, even when they have fished out the lake well beyond the point of diminishing returns.

When they had given up and gone away to try somewhere else, a Great Crested Grebe tried with an equal lack of success. This is a female, evidently the mate of the male who is often seen here.

A Grey Heron was also fishing from the Mute SWans' nesting island, which the killer swan and his mate have still not claimed. But as the boss pair of the lake, they can start at their leisure.

The number two swans at the Serpentine island are making a strong claim for their territory, and were chasing another pair away.

The three young Grey Herons were fidgeting in their nest, with the parents perched at a distance for the sake of a quiet life.

It's quite hard to tell a young Herring Gull, in the foreground here, from a young Lesser Black-Backed Gull. The latter is slightly smaller and darker and more delicate. But the only way to be sure is to wait till they fly. Lesser Black-Backs have dark flight feathers all the way along their wing, Herring Gulls have a paler patch in their inner primaries.

A Pied Wagtail used the buoys at the Lido as a hunting station. There are midges over the lake at all times of year. We aren't seeing as many wagtails as we used to. The annual destruction caused by the Winter Wasteland has broken up the colony which used to run all over the Parade Ground.

A pair of Long-Tailed Tits hunted through the trees at the edge of the leaf yard ...

... where the usual Robin came out for some pine nuts.

So did the Robin who lives in the yew hedge in the Flower Walk ...

... and the female Chaffinch was waiting in the corkscrew hazel bush.

The male Chaffinch in the Rose Garden appeared in a flower bed ...

... and one of the Coal Tits was flitting around restlessly in a tree. They seldom stay in the same place for five seconds, which makes them hard to photograph.