Insects on the menu

A Blackbird on the Vista collected a mixture of mixture of midges and crane fly larvae for its young.

A Robin in the Flower Walk was carrying a caterpillar.

A Wren gathered nesting material. Thanks to Ahmet Amerikali for this picture.

Male Wrens have several mates, each with her own nest, so it's not surprising to see nest building late in the season.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery could be seen in the top of the chestnut tree.

Again there was the sound of an owlet calling persistently, but it remained invisible from every angle.

The Coot nesting at the bridge was turning the eggs.

Its mate was in the water keeping an Egyptian Goose from approaching.

The goose is much less of a threat than the Herring Gulls which perch on the posts, not to mention the local Grey Heron that fishes here, shown standing in front of the nest.

One of the six new Coot chicks in the Italian Garden fountains was preening in a clump of purple loosestrife. It had a nibble at a leaf but didn't like it. This is one of the few water plants that Coots don't destroy. It's no use for making nests and evidently it tastes nasty.

Just along the shore there was yet another Coot nest built on the open shore, without the slightest chance of success.

I haven't seen any sign of a Great Crested Grebe nesting this summer, and at the moment there aren't many on the lake. They have plenty of time to start, and the supply of small fish for the chicks should be fine now. This one was fishing among the algae at the north end of the Long Water.

A pair of Egyptian Geese at the east end of the Serpentine have four new goslings. The Dell restaurant terrace is a good place to parade them as there's a chance of being thrown some titbits.

A gosling looked out from its mother's wing beside the Round Pond.

The Mallard ducklings were charging along the edge. They must cover many miles a day.

The Mandarins were resting. The smallest one shows no sign of catching up with the other two, which are now quite large. But it seems healthy and active -- too active in fact, as this is the one that keeps wandering off on its own.

A female Emperor dragonfly was making short hops ...

... from one floating reed stem to another to lay eggs.

Ahmet got a picture of a male perched on a reed.

There were also Black-Tailed Skimmers flying over the dense mat of algae, a good place to hunt midges.

The elusive owlet

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in his usual place in the chestnut tree ...

... and there was the sound of an owlet begging, but try as I might I couldn't see it from any angle. The call was coming from somewhere around the nest hole and it may have been inside.

Is it just human imagination, or do the Great Tit parents look absolutely at the end of their tether as their young continue to beg at them? At any rate, they will be able to stop quite soon and spend the rest of the summer recovering.

A Carrion Crow grabbed a bit of bread from someone feeding the waterfowl at the Dell restaurant and dunked it in the lake, picking up a tasty coating of algae.

A Grey Wagtail was hunting on the shore near the outflow ...

... and a Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Round Pond caught a small insect.

A young Herring Gull on the pond played with a twig.

The young Grey Heron was still fishing on the electric boat platform, evidently a good place.

A Moorhen found a comfortable spot to rest on the canvas cover of an electric boat, buttoned over the minor controls to stop hirers from messing around with them.

The four young Coots from the nest near the Peter Pan statue are now almost fully grown, but still have greyish juvenile plumage. You can hear a Greenfinch singing in the tree above.

There are several more Coot nests in silly places around the Serpentine. This one has just appeared at the Triangle. It may be hard on the Coots to have few good places to nest but it's a mercy, as the population is steadily climbing.

Such is the reign of terror exercised by the dominant male Mute Swan on the lake with his six cygnets, that only one other nest has produced any young, and even then just one cygnet. The nest was well hidden in the reed bed by the Serpentine outflow, as far from the dominant swan's domain on the Long Water as possible.

The Bar-Headed x Greylag Goose hybrid sat on the edge of the Serpentine patiently waiting for its new flight feathers to come through.

The smallest Mandarin duckling on the Round Pond had strayed off again, but was returning to the family when I found it.

The young Mallards are getting proper speckled feathers.

A female Emperor dragonfly below the Italian Garden fountains was laying eggs on bits of floating reed.

A Comma butterfly rested on a nettle. There are now quite a lot of these beautiful creatures flying around the lake.

A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee worked over an eryngium flower near the Lido.

The wandering duckling

The smallest Mandarin duckling on the Round Pond had strayed off yet again, and was peeping pathetically.

I herded it back to its mother, passing two dangerous Herring Gulls on the way.

The Mallard family were boldly milling about among the geese.

A Gadwall drake at the Vista was in eclipse, looking frayed and patchy and most unlike his usual tweed-suited smartness.

The four teenage Coots at Peter Pan are still returning to the nest where they were hatched.

Pigeon Eater had struck again in his usual place by the Dell restaurant. The fence put up to stop people feeding birds gives him an undisturbed dining area.

A young Grey Heron standing on the platform at the boathouse caught two very small fish. It's remarkable how far it can reach down without losing its balance.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery looked down from the top of the chestnut tree.

Lower in the tree young Great Tits chased their parents.

There are fewer families of Blue Tits, but several young ones were flitting through the trees near the Buck Hill shelter ...

... as well as young Long-Tailed Tits ...

... a young Wren ...

... and an adult Robin.

The undergrowth was full of Meadow Brown butterflies.

A Comma butterfly landed in the hypericum bush at Mount Gate.

The lavender in the Rose Garden was crowded with Honeybees ...

... and a good number of Buff-Tailed Bumblebees, but I couldn't find anything unusual.

The Mount Etna Broom tree by the fountain is erupting with yellow blossom.

A sunny Saturday and not much to see

On a sunny Saturday with a lot of people in the park the small birds were lurking in the shade. Even the ubiquitous and noisy young Great Tits had quietened down, though there was one begging in the Rose Garden.

A Pied Wagtail hunted on the grass beside the Round Pond, which is already looking dry and faded despite last night's rain.

This Chiffchaff was photographed at Walthamstow Wetlands by Joan Chatterley.

Several young Magpies were begging at the northwest corner of the bridge.

This Carrion Crow at the Serpentine Gallery seems to have taken a liking to the bronze trees with boulders.

The male Little Owl could be seen in the chestnut tree.

A Cormorant on the Long Water had a frantic wash and jumped on to a post to dry.

The three Mandarin ducklings on the Round Pond are straying all over the place. This one, the smallest, was a hundred yards from its mother and heading away from her. I chased it back and it was reunited with the others.

The six Mallard ducklings were sitting quietly with their mother, and their father was keeping an eye on them a short way along the shore.

There are several pairs of Egyptian Geese with single goslings. This one was near the Lido ...

... and there was another at the landing stage.

The Black Swan came over for some sunflower hearts.

There were Black-Tailed Skimmer dragonflies all around both lakes and the Round Pond ...

... and a lot of Common Blue damselflies. This one was in the Dell.

I don't know what had got into this Buff--Tailed Bumblebee. It was wandering around in the grass on the Vista and seemed lost. It was uninjured and active. I picked it up and put it in a patch of clover so it could have a feed and maybe recover its senses.

There were Buff-Tails on the spiky eryngium flowers east of the Lido ...

... and plenty of Honeybees ...

... but there was a general lack of other species on view. I found just one Common Carder on a scabious at the back of the Lido.