The Black Swan is back

A Wren was digging busily in the mulch under a tree at the edge of the Rose Garden.

The Blue Tit pair in the Rose Garden that come to be fed ...

... are nesting in the tall gas lamp post in the middle of the garden. The top of this lamp is just a length of scaffolding pole, and I wonder how even such small birds can nest in that space.

A lamp post on the south side of the Serpentine also has Blue Tits nesting in it. This is one of the lamps with a bulge at the top of the cast iron post, so there's plenty of room inside for a nest.

Another video by Julia of the Long-Tailed Tit family at the Albert Memorial. A young bird is busy preening.

The Robins by the Henry Moore sculpture are constantly flying across the path to collect insects in the hawthorn trees, then returning to a nest deep in the woodland.

A Starling perched on the railings in front of the sculpture, hoping to be fed. But you really can't feed Starlings, as once you start you will be mobbed by them for ever. They get plenty of insects and larvae, as well as raiding the outside tables at the restaurants.

The female Little Owl at the Round Pond was calling from the lime tree. It still takes a while to find a small and well camouflaged owl in a big tree.

The Coots nesting under the balcony of the Dell restaurant have at least one chick.

Coots dive constantly to bring up algae, but they are never good at it. They are too buoyant, and have to paddle frantically head downwards to stay submerged. The chicks in the Italian Garden fountain are beginning to try, but they can only stay down for a couple of seconds before they bob up again.

The Black Swan is back from his expedition to Barnes. He recognised me and came over for some sunflower hearts.

The male Mute Swan on the Long Water was taking a few minutes away from the cygnets and resting on the gravel strip.

But, seeing his mate taking the cygnets to Peter Pan to tout for food, he came over and joined them.

The male swan at the boathouse was guarding the single egg. It doesn't look as if his mate is going to lay any more.

A Green-Veined White butterfly fed on a bramble flower at the Vista.

A Honeybee visited a white rose in the Rose Garden.

A House Fly was in the pool of the Huntress fountain, making feeble efforts to swim. I fished it out on a stick, but it promptly jumped back into the water, so I left it. It could probably have taken off if it wanted to.

A big Black Poplar in the Diana fountain enclosure is producing so much fluff that it looks as if it had been snowing.