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.