Swans find the way out

Some of the young Mute Swans on the Long Water wanted to go under the bridge on to the Serpentine, and were shocked to find that the way was blocked by the pontoon.

But their mother had already discovered the gap, and led them through.

The Black Swan on the Round Pond spotted me and hurried over for some sunflower seeds.

All the Great Crested Grebe chicks on the Serpentine are still being fed by their devoted parents ...

... but sometimes a loud demanding chick can get so unbearable that it just has to be chased away.

The bundles of twigs at the edge of the lake that will be the edge of the new reed bed make a comfortable place for a Moorhen to rest.

This Cormorant on the Long Water seems to be standing on the water, but in fact it's on the submerged wall of the old water intake of the Italian Garden.

The area inside the semicircular wall was originally topped by iron gratings to stop leaves from getting into the steam-powered pump that worked the fountains, but these have fallen to bits. The pipework has all been altered and the intake is no longer used -- the fountains inside the garden have a recirculating system and the marble fountain on the edge carries water from the borehole into the lake. The enclosure has now become a spawning ground for fish, but every year it gets completely cleared out by the Cormorants and the process starts again in the spring.

Many of the Cormorants have left now that most of the fish have been eaten, and their perching places are increasingly occupied by Grey Herons, whose numbers have gone up after this year's record breeding season.

But there are quite a few Cormorants and three were on the fallen Lombardy poplar at Peter Pan, which they shared with Black-Headed Gulls, Coots and a Mallard.

A heron fishing on the new ramp at the Lido resented a Cormorant arriving to disturb its patient hunting method.

The single Shoveller drake on the Serpentine seems to have gone to the Long Water to be with the others, and the solitary female is lonely. She tried to associate with three Gadwalls, but they gave her the cold shoulder.

She could move to the Long Water too, but the drakes are now getting into breeding plumage and feeling their oats, and they would bother her.

The Common Gull at the Lido is still alone. Most of the Common Gulls don't arrive till November.

Three Starlings waited on a chair at the Lido restaurant.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge is a moody bird. Sometimes it comes to my hand for a pine nut, but today it lurked at the back of the shrubbery and wouldn't approach.

There's never any hesitation from the hordes of Great Tits. This one was in the holly at the top of the steps, which is thick with ripe berries.

A ceanothus bush in the Rose Garden has put out some unseasonable blossom although it's also bearing seeds developed from the spring flowers.

More news from the bridge

Good news: birds won't be trapped by the pontoon across the bridge while it's being repaired. Now that it's been finally assembled there's a 6 foot gap at each end.

At the moment it's only clear at the south end, as the north end is temporarily closed by a movable pontoon on the other side of the bridge which will advance across as each section is finished, starting with repairing the damage caused at Christmas in 2023 when a drunk driver racing in a supercar lost control and brought down a long stretch of the parapet.

The killer Mute Swan and his family were at the Vista, but they can go on to the Serpentine any time they like. So the lone young swan on the Serpentine isn't protected after all, but so far it has kept out of trouble from the killer.

More general news from the Serpentine: the mysterious line of posts marks the edge of what is intended to be a long narrow reed bed extending along the edge at the Triangle. The reeds will actually be on the concrete at the edge of the lake, rooted in coir matting. This is perfectly practical as reeds draw their norishment from the water, not from soil.

The reed bed will be a small but useful habitat from some birds. However, it will stop geese from coming ashore to feed on the weeds at the edge of the Triangle shrubbery. Perhaps that's not a bad thing, as a few years ago there was a dreadful spectacle when a whole brood of Egyptian goslings ate a poisonous plant and died in convulsions.

The promised storm turned out to be an anticlimax -- I was expecting the park to be shut this morning -- but there was enough wind to encourage the swans on the Serpentine to do a bit of flying.

However, the young swans on the Long Water, though perfectly capable of flight, seem to have abandoned the idea after a few brief practice flaps. I think the lone young swan on the Serpentine, though younger than them, will be airborne first.

Puddles on the edge of the Round Pond made by waves and spray always attract the local Pied Wagtails looking for stranded aquatic larvae.

A Jackdaw was rootling in dead leaves by the Diana playground. You never know where they are going to turn up, but they all expect to be fed.

It was among the local gang of Carrion Crows that hang around the northwest corner of Kensington Gardens. Someone had been feeding them polenta. It will do them no harm, but it seemed an odd choice of bird food and quite an expensive one.

Also here was a little sheltered patch of baby sage on which a single Common Carder bee was browsing.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits was busy in a holly tree in the Dell.

A pair of Blue Tits came out at Mount Gate ...

... while I was feeding the familiar Robin.

At the east end of the Serpentine the Czech Black-Headed Gull saw some people eating lunch on a bench and strode ashore to demand food from them.

It was disappointed when all that happened was that it was photographed.

I only managed to get the last few seconds of this pair of Great Crested Grebes dancing on the Long Water. You have to catch one of them surfacing and track it across as it runs to meet the other, and it's not always possible to find it in time. But anyway, they have no business dancing in autumn, as the breeding season is long past.

Ahmet Amerikali was in Southwark Park, and apart from the usual Goldcrests ...

... he found four unexpected Firecrests.

He also saw the young Little Grebe, whose juvenile stripes have now faded.

It's odd that the tiny Southwark lake supports Little Grebes when we have none apart from a rare visitor, and also that we seem to have no Firecrests when they are cropping up all over London this year.

Bridge repairs begin at last

A Song Thrush was eating sloes in a blackthorn tree east of the Lido.

A Rose-Ringed Parakeet ate the fruit of an arbutus tree in the Dell.

The usual crew turned out in the Rose Garden for pine nuts, including a Great Tit in a rose bush.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge was also looking expectant.

A Magpie was looking decorative in yellow hornbeam leaves by the Serpentine Gallery.

More practically, another one was inspecting dishes at the Lido restaurant.

The large new ramp for swimmers at the Lido provides another place for fish to lurk in the shadows, as a Grey Heron has already discovered.

Four Cormorants dried and preened on the fallen Lombardy poplar tree at the Peter Pan waterfront.

A Carrion Crow was reflected in the water at the near end.

A youg Herring Gull played with a conker on the Serpentine shore.

Work is finally beginning on the long delayed repairs to the bridge. They aren't just repairing the damaged parapet, they're renovating the whole thing. This needs large pontoons stretched across the lake on one side, and a movable floating platform on the other.

I talked to the workmen. We were both baffled by the line of stakes that was hammered into the lake yesterday -- you can see the ones not yet placed in the foreground of the picture. They have nothing to do with the bridge, and no one could guess what they are for.

The barrier across the lake has isolated the killer Mute Swan's family on the Long Water, as the teenagers won't be able to get past the bridge until they can fly well enough to get over it -- swans never fly under the bridge as these unmanoeuvrable birds are afraid of crashing into it. This is good news for the lone teenager on the Serpentine, as it will be protected from attack for some time.

The young Great Crested Grebe from the nest at the bridge was on the Serpentine side, but the barrier will be no obstacle as it can easily swim underneath.

It was fishing along the edge, poking into the space under the concrete border. Evidently it was getting some small fish or other creatures, as you often see grebes doing this.

There are now two pairs of Canada Geese with Canada x Greylag hybrids, and they are keeping together on the Serpentine. Although the two hybrids have similar plumage they aren't related, and their feet are different colours. They arrived on the lake at different times.

The single Egyptian teenager has been limping after an injury, and we were worried about it. But since I last saw it two days ago it seems to be moving more easily, so with luck it should recover.

There is a new single young Egyptian too, which must have flown in with its parents. Egyptians can fly before they are fully grown, and it displayed a mighty pair of wings as it climbed out of the lake by the Dell restaurant.

A huge clump of Honey Fungus has come up near Temple Gate. There is probably the remnant of a felled tree under the grass here.

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.