A drizzly day

Feral Pigeons took advantage of a dank day. They like standing in water even when they aren't actively washing.

A Black-Headed Gull drank from another puddle.

The Robin at Mount Gate was staying dry under the bushes, only coming out when I arrived ...

... but the familiar one in the Rose Garden was slightly damp.

It was accompanied by both Coal Tits, which were chasing each other ...

... and half a dozen Blue Tits.

A Magpie perched in a weeping willow, still with some green leaves. They lose their leaves late and regain them early.

The female Pied Wagtail was hunting on her broad territory along the south shore of the Serpentine. Only her mate is allowed here, and the Grey Wagtail gets chased off.

A young Herring Gull at the island played with a conker I gave it. Conkers from the Indian horse chestnuts are preferred, as they are round and roll well.

A Grey Heron at was already collecting twigs to repair its nest after the year's losses. The one above it is evidently not its mate, to judge by its hostile reaction.

There is almost always a heron in the reed bed by the Serpentine outflow, evidently a prime fishing spot.

A female Great Crested Grebe fishing by the bridge surfaced with a leaf on her back.

She went over to join her mate.

Apart from this pair the only grebe I saw was a single male by the island. The others have probably flown up the river. You see quite a few upstream from Chiswick.

A Moorhen by the Dell restaurant poked around in floating leaves looking for anything edible.

A young Mute Swan had foolishly flown into a pool in the Italian Garden.

The pools are too small for a swan to take off from, as they need a long run. Swans that know the way can leave via the marble fountain, but only when it's working and there's water in the lower basin for them to splash into. Today all the fountains were broken, and the swan is going to have to be caught and put back in the lake. Apparently it's one of the young ones that flew into the park several weeks ago, and probably it has had a run-in with the killer swan, fled, and landed in what it thought was a safe place. It will be all right for now, as there's plenty of algae in the pool.

The single teenager on the Serpentine was preening by itself at Fisherman's Keep.

Wet weather keeps people and dogs away, so that the geese can enjoy the grass on the lawn to the east of the Triangle.