A private song

A Robin in the Rose Garden sang to itself, so quietly that you could hardly hear it over the sound of the gentle breeze.

A Great Tit was waiting in a rose bush ...

... and so was a Blue Tit in the yew tree in the Dell.

A Wren hopped around on a pile of logs at the southeast corner of the bridge.

The Robin at Mount Gate had been frightened by a Magpie, and lurked nervously at the back of the bushes.

A Grey Heron stood on the pointless water level that had to be put in for the 2012 Olympics.

The water level in the lake never changes by more than a couple of inches, since it is supplied by a borehole at one end and kept down by a weir at the other. Another thing compulsorily put in at this time was an emergency drain to empty the lake. If it were ever opened the water would flood the expensive houses of Pimlico, and the claims for damages from the Royal Parks would be beyond imagination.

The Common Gull stood on the plastic buoys at the Lido, still without companions.

Ian Young tells me that there are now two more, but they are on the Round Pond. More will arrive later, of course.

One of the Great Crested Grebe chicks from the west end of the island was given a fish by its mother and played at releasing it and catching it again, like a cat with a mouse, before finally eating it.

The chicks from the other end of the island were practising adult rituals, shaking their heads at each other and waving leaves. This behaviour is hard wired but still needs to be worked on to get it right, especially the full weed dance which is a difficult feat of balance.

A Cormorant on the Long Water perched on the very tip of a thin dead branch. I think they actually enjoy landing in the most difficult places. Herons, with superb low-speed flying skills, can land anywhere but never show off in this way.

A Greylag Goose on the Serpentine was having a vigorous wash, which involved turning upside down.

The single Shoveller drake is no longer alone, as a female has flown on to the Serpentine.

The gardeners in the Rose Garden are planting the herbaceous borders for the winter, and this includes bulbs due to come up in the spring. It was good news for a Grey Squirrel, which immediately started looking for them to dig up and eat.

The catmint is still flowering, and a durable Common Carder bee was still around to feed on it.

I was photographing the arbutus tree, which bears flower and fruit at the same time ...

... when what should land in it but a very late Red Admiral butterfly, in perfect condition with no signs of age.

Short stakes have been put into the bed of the Serpentine by the bridge. They can hardly be intended to be strong or permanent, as they have only been driven a few inches into the mud. The line is a couple of feet from the shore, just outside the concrete lip at the edge of the water. I can't guess what they are for. There are plans to add more reed beds to the edge of the Serpentine, but this seems no way of going about it.