Skittering grebe

The young Great Crested Grebe from the east end of the Serpentine charged furiously up the lake, nearly but not quite getting airborne. No doubt it could fly if it wanted to, but grebes really only fly properly if they have to move to another lake.

A band of young Herring Gulls chased a Common Gull which was holding a bit of bread. The agile bird effortlessly eluded them.

The dominant Mute Swan and his family, assembled at the Peter Pan waterfront, had a mass preening session as they waited for Sunday visitors to feed them.

The young swan on the Serpentine is now almost always escorted by at least one parent. They have been watching the increasing incursions of the dominant swan on to the Serpentine, and are rightly nervous.

The result of the killer male's ruthless violence is that most of the swans are crowded on to the Round Pond, which is far too small to hold them comfortably.

The Black Swan was on the other side. When he sees me he instantly comes over for some sunflower seeds, which is why most pictures show him approaching.

Three Red-Crested Pochard drakes lurked under the bushes at the Vista. Unlike the Common Pochards they are irregular visitors and there are never many of them.

I'm not sure whether this Shoveller drake on the Serpentine is immature, or whether it's being much slower than the others at changing into breeding plumage.

Wood Pigeons gorged on ripe holly berries near the bridge. I was hoping for one of them to reach too far and fall out of the tree, as they often do and it makes a good ending toi a video, but the abundant berries were accessible and they stayed put.

Ahmet Amerikali found a Blackbird with a white head in Southwark Park. There used to be several leucistic Blackbirds in Kensington Gardens, but the precipitous decline in numbers caused by destruction of their habitats means that you can now spend days without seeing a Blackbird at all.

Robins are more resilient for some reason, and there are still lots of them. This one in the Flower Walk came out to take several pine nuts.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge remains nervous and will only snatch one in a hasty swoop.

A Great Tit stared expectantly from a small hawthorn in the Rose Garden ...

... but the regular Coal Tits ...

... and Blue Tits collected in a now leafless cercis bush.

There's always a Jackdaw in wait near the Speke obelisk.

Wasps browsed on fatsia flowers in the Flower Walk. Like its close relative ivy, fatsia blossoms late in the year and is an abundant source of nectar when the other flowers have withered.

There was a pretty clump of white-flowered deadnettles near the Round Pond.

A treat for a Coal Tit

Generally when you give a pine nut to a Coal Tit it takes it away to hide and eat later, but this one in the Rose Garden decided to have it at once. Coal Tits like to live in the stone pines that produce these seeds, so they are a favourite food.

There were plenty more takers here: the other Coal Tit with a Blue Tit ...

... another Blue Tit with a Great Tit ...

... and the Robin in the hawthorn.

The day wouldn't be complete without a visit from the Robin at Mount Gate.

Blackbirds are constantly seen lurking at the back of the bushes east of the Lido, where there are several blackthorns providing abundant sloes for them. I think they nested here earlier, as I have seen several together on the ground ...

... but this old nest seems too big and twiggy for a Blackbird, though smaller than a typical Magpie nest.

Rose-Ringed Parakeets foraged on a barren patch near the Queen's Temple. Usually when they're on the ground they're eating dandelion leaves, but I couldn't see what the attraction was here.

Another Common Gull has arrived at the Lido, a little one hardly larger than the Black-Headed Gulls either side of it.

The first Common Gull was right at the other end of the swimming area and taking no notice of it.

Most of the Common Gulls in the park congregate at the Round Pond, and here they are quite social birds.

Pigeon Eater had a background of floating leaves by the Dell restaurant.

A fallen Lombardy poplar at the Peter Pan waterfront has become a favourite hangout for the remaining Cormorants on the Long Water.

The single Great Crested Grebe chick from the nest at the bridge is almost completely grown up and only retains faint traces of its juvenile stripes.

The one at the east end of the lake is less advanced, but both are now fishing for themselves and only pestering their parents occasionally.

A Grey Heron in the Dell was looking for fish on the upper side of the small waterfall.

If the fish in the top half of the small stream are swept over the fall they can't get back, and indeed there do seem to be more fish on the downstream side. Here they have to avoid going down the drain to the Thames, or into the pump that powers the top cascade of the big waterfall. Nevertheless, fish seem to abound in this awkward habitat.

Some autumn colour: a red sweetgum by the Diana fountain, with a yellow poplar on the other side of the lake ...

... a Japanese maple by the bridge ...

... and a clump of stinking iris by the Vista.