Hungry young birds

A young Pied Wagtail beside the Serpentine chased its father, wagging its tail frantically, and eventually got fed.

A young Magpie was also begging constantly at a parent in a hornbeam tree.

Young Reed Warblers have been calling in the reeds at the southwest corner of the bridge, and one was briefly visible.

The younger of the two male Chaffinches followed me from the Flower Walk to the Round Pond.

Robins appeared all along the Flower Walk.

The Wren from the yew hedge perched on the railings. Evidently it had been raiding a spider's web.

Pigeon Eater flew up on to the Dell restaurant roof after an unsuccessful attempt to grab a Feral Pigeon in midair. Pigeons are faster and more agile than he is, and he knows perfectly well that he can't catch one in flight, but he can't resist having a go.

The large number of young Grey Herons around the island is causing frequent confrontations.

Jon Ferguson found a Little Grebe with four chicks on the Grand Union Canal at Brentford and got a picture on his phone.

Several years ago I saw Little Grebes on the canal at Kensal Green. Common Terns also come to fish in this unpromising stretch of water.

The Egyptian Geese by the bridge still have eight goslings. They'd be safer from gulls on the other side of the bridge, but probably the killer swan would chase them back.

The isabel Greylag was resting near the Lido.

The Mandarin duckling on the Round Pond is now usually on the gravel strip. Its wings are growing well.

Let's hope that when it can fly, its mother remembers to visit it and guide it down to the Long Water to be with the rest of the family. She has already visited at least once.

Good news from Virginia, who saw the Tufted ducklings on the Long Water yesterday, and there are still nine of them. One is very undersized.

There must have been two families, one here and the other on the Serpentine with just two ducklings. I didn't see the latter today, or the two Mallard ducklings, and fear that the gulls have had them. 

Virginia also sent a very odd picture of a yellow pigeon. This colour can't be natural.

There is or was a woman who comes to the park with pigeons dyed in gaudy colours and charges people to photograph them.  I haven't seen her since 2019. But it looks as if one of them escaped on a recent visit and is still around, and probably the other colours have faded but the yellow is more durable.

The foxes on the lawn by the Henry Moore sculpture are now almost always out, and seem likely to stay until the end of the warm weather.

A Small White butterfly fed on a clump of verbena in the Rose Garden ...

... and there was a very tattered Red Admiral on a Japanese anemone near Pter Pan.