Reed Warblers at work

A Reed Warbler under the Italian Garden collected insects for its chicks. We've seen this one with a ring several times before. So far I've been able to read the sequence B187 on the tiny ring, and hope to get the full number.

Ahmet Amerikali got a picture of a Reed Warbler in the Diana fountain reed bed with an unlucky Honeybee.

A male Blackbird was also foraging for the chicks near the Dell then, having done his duty, he relaxed with a song and a preen. This isn't the one that nests inside the Dell. The nest is in the bushes on the edge of the South Carriage Drive.

A female Great Tit at the southwest corner of the bridge was looking harassed with a chick yelling at her, one of a numerous brood that all have to be fed.

A Long-Tailed Tit at the other end of the bridge had caught a fly. Its tail is very worn and frayed, so this is probably a female that has been nesting.

There was a brief glimpse of a Jay bathing in the Huntress fountain in the Rose Garden.

A Jackdaw looked for insects on the gravel strip in the Round Pond.

But those were the only Jay and Jackdaw I saw all day. They're busy nesting and don't have time to hang around begging for peanuts.

The Grey Heron at the Lido restaurant checked a table to see if anything worth grabbing had been left on it, but was disappointed.

There is a mysterious heron which is seen around the nest on the Serpentine island where there are three chicks. It's too young to be a parent but older than the chicks, and is apparently a teenager from a previous nest. Today when the chicks were being fed it actually went into the nest, perhaps hoping to grab a share, before flying off.

This may be the heron I saw in an adjacent tree on Tuesday. If so, it's not from an unknown nest: we've already seen it growing up elsewhere.

Ahmet photographed a heron eating a small carp in the Italian Garden ...

... and also a Great Crested Grebe with a perch on the Serpentine.

Two other grebes were displaying near the bridge.

A Coot persisted with building a hopeless nest on the edge. It's been there for a week and still doesn't realise the futility of what it's doing.

The Black Swan had come down from the Round Pond to the Serpentine. He was alone and, seeing me, came over for some sunflower seeds. He would be much happier in St James's Park with the lone female Black Swan, but evidently he doesn't know about it or her. When he has left the park he has always gone in the other direction, up the river.

The Mandarin on the Round Pond led her four ducklings along the gravel strip.

The Mallard was looking after her six. Both sets are now beginning to grow but are still far from out of danger of being snatched by a gull.

Two Buff-Tailed Bumblebees browsed on a Lamb's Ears flower in the Italian Garden. It was a clump near the fountain, not the one where they get harassed by Wool Carder Bees.

An Emperor Dragonfly hunted over the reeds under the Italian Garden.