Massacre of the insects

Apologies for the late appearance of today's post. My computer is misbehaving, and there may be further delays over the next few days till I can get it mended.

In one short section of the path beside the Long Water a Starling was collecting caterpillars for nestlings in the Buck Hill shelter ...

... a Robin was doing the same for a nest in the bushes ...

... and a Song Thrush was gathering insects in the grass. The park has an abundance of insects of all kinds, as pesticides are not used anywhere, but they are certainly getting hit hard at the moment.

Ahmet Amerikali found the first young Long-Tailed Tits out of the nest at the northwest corner of the bridge. Here are his pictures of one with a parent ...

... and alone. And just think of how may insects it took to grow that little bird.

There was another Song Thrush in a tree near the leaf yard, I think a female because there was a male singing inside the yard.

A male Blackcap sang beside the Long Water. It's been a good year for them and they are all over Kensington Gardens.

It wouldn't be a proper day without the demands of the hungry Blue Tits in the Rose Garden.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond was almost impossible to see when I first visited her tree, but later she came out on a high branch from which she looked down curiously.

The Grey Herons at the west end of the island were together, the first time for some days. But will these vague birds ever manage to breed? 

There are now two pairs of Lesser Black-Backed Gulls on the Long Water, one on the posts at Peter Pan ...

... and the other on the posts where the ill-fated raft was moored. We don't usually have more than one pair on this part of the lake. It's bad news for the Coots.

The single Coot chick from the nest in the boathouse was scooting around picking midges off the surface of the lake. All the water birds are partial to midges, of which there are enormous numbers, but chicks in particular need the protein they provide for growth.

Another single survivor, the Egyptian gosling on the south side of the Serpentine, growing fast in the care of its solicitous parents.

The male Mute Swan at the bopathouse was guarding the egg while the female was out feeding. But there's still only one egg.

Tom was at Rainham Marshes, where he got pictures of a Ruddy Shelduck flying ...

... and a Blue-Winged Teal passing a Redshank ...

... and, to continue the theme of insects being eaten, a remarkable shot of a Hobby catching a dragonfly.