Nesting gets under way

Pigeon Eater's mate was sharing his latest kill. She is a very privileged bird.

The Pied Wagtail pair were hunting separately at Fisherman's Keep but calling to each other. The male is now beginning to take pine nuts thrown on the ground, not his usual food but liked by other insect-eating birds so it should be all right for him.

On the grass nearby, the Egyptian Goose mother was grazing with her goslings. She has still managed to keep all eight. Her mate is being very efficient at scaring away Carrion Crows.  There are only a few Herring Gulls to guard against, as Pigeon Eater chases them away from this end of the lake, and he has enough pigeons to keep him from taking the goslings -- at least so far.

Another pair of Mute Swans were occupying the nest basket east of the Lido. The male was 4FUW and the female was unringed. Probably they won't stay long.

However, the Grey Herons on the Serpentine island seem to be keen about nesting now, and a pair were building a nest from scratch. There's still only room for one bird, so it had to leave when the other arrived with a twig.

Another nest was in an even earlier stage of construction.

The male Peregrine was on the tower by himself.

This Jay is now always near the Italian Garden waiting for a peanut. Today he was in the swamp cypress.

A Green Woodpecker in a tree near the Rose Garden laughed sarcastically, pecked at the bark, and started preening.

The Wedge-Leaf Wattle by the north gate is beginning to blossom, weeks after the Cootamundra wattle on the other side of the gate. A Blue Tit looked down from a twig.

The Coal Tits were here but wouldn't allow themselves to be photographed. I caught one later in a bush.

The pair in the corkscrew hazel in the Dell are much easier to photograph, as they know they will be fed in due course.

A Great Tit looked out of an aucuba bush in the Flower Walk, This dull spotty shrub seen on a thousand housing estates does at least sometimes produce some red berries.

One of the Long-Tailed Tits at the northwest corner of the bridge arrived with some spider web for the nest.

The unattached Robin at Mount Gate was singing in a bush ...

... and the female of the pair waited in her usual place on the railings.

The was a bicycle rally at the Albert Memorial, and this curious machine was being ridden round, impossible to stop without leaping down backwards from a height. The rear suspension is completely incomprehensible.

First swans to nest?

The eight Egyptian goslings have survived another day. They emerged from the shelter of their mother and she led them to the grass to feed.

A pair of Mute Swans seemed to be settling down in the reeds east of the Lido. This site has been successful before, and was used by the boss swan two years ago before he took possession of the Long Water. The male swan at the back had only a metal ring, and I couldn't see what the female had.

This one by the island is a 'Polish' swan. That doesn't mean that it comes from Poland, simply that this strain of Mute Swan with pale legs was first observed in Poland. The most remarkable thing about them is that they have white cygnets rather than the usual grey ones.

Mallard drakes chased each other at the island.

The trio of the Gadwall drake and two Mallards, not seen for some time, were at the Lido.

The female Grey Heron flew into the nest at the west end of the island to join her mate. The pair seem to be quite enthusiastic about nesting, but we've seen plenty of false starts before.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull at the landing stage was swimming around yelling at rivals, and occasionally chasing them off.

The female Pied Wagtail, hunting near the Dell restaurant, saw her mate flying past and streaked after him, twittering.

Great Tits, Blue Tits, one of the Coal Tit pair and the usual Chaffinch were waiting in the cercis bush in the Rose Garden, looking like exotic fruit on the bare twigs.

The Coal Tits ...

...and Blue Tits also appeared in the rose bushes ...

... and there were Blue Tits in the cedar on the north edge. There are almost as many Blue Tits as Great Tits in the Rose Garden area, in contrast to the rest of the park where they are in a small minority.

The Long-Tailed Tit pair at the northwest corner of the bridge were low in the bushes, looking for feathers on the ground to add to their nest.

The Robin at the southwest corner ...

... and the one by the Buck Hill shelter came out to be fed.

A Wren was making a loud fuss in the undergrowth near Peter Pan.

A Carrion Crow waited on the stonework of the Italian Garden ...

... and a Jackdaw perched on a nearby bench commemorating three dogs, Topsy, Scarlett and Chloe.

Until two years ago a contribution of £10,000 would get you a bench with your chosen words carved prominently on the back which would last for decades. Now the same amount will only get you a mingy little brass plate screwed to a bench, barely legible, which will be removed in ten years if you don't pay up again. It's always about money here.

Still eight Egyptian goslings

A Great Spotted Woodpecker called from a treetop in the Rose Garden. It's a male, as you can see by the red patch on the back of its head.

Although it was slightly warmer than yesterday the small birds here were still ravenously hungry, and I was accosted by a mob of Great Tits in the dogwood tree before I even got through the gate.

A Blue Tit ...

... and a Coal Tit waited in a rose bush with new red leaves.

Long-Tailed Tits worked over a winged elm near the Italian Garden ...

... where there was also an expectant Jay.

Another Jay appeared at Mount Gate ...

... where the unpaired Robin was singing quietly in the dogwood bush.

This is the Robin that lives in the yew hedge in the Flower Walk.

Pigeon Eater is spending a lot of the time with his mate now.

The male Grey Heron on the nest at the west end of the island felt like mating, and was prodding the female encouragingly.

He even climbed on her, but she wasn't in the mood and he gave up.

There was a row of herons on the posts below ...

... and another one contemplated a squirrel by the bridge.

Surprisingly the Egyptian Geese on the south side of the Serpentine still have their original eight goslings. They are quite obedient and stay with their mother -- adventurous ones soon get eaten. She was pattering her feet to bring up worms. I've never seen a goose doing this. Did she learn it by watching a Herring Gull?

This is the Egyptian pair that for years has lived by the Albert Memorial, whose fine gilded railings by Francis Skidmore you can see in the background. They are a long way from water, and it's a puzzle how they manage here.

The Black Swan was with 4GIQ, who now seems quite content to stay with him. This is hard luck on her Mute mate, who gets chased off if he tries to reclaim her.

The Mallard pair are still in possession of the nesting basket at the Triangle. The female was perfectly camouflaged against the withy fence.

Cold and hungry

On a chilly day the small birds were very hungry and chased me around the Rose Garden. A Blue Tit waited in a cedar on the north edge ...

... and another ...

... and a Coal Tit perched in the blossom in a dogwood tree.

A Song Thrush sang in the woodland behind the Cavalry Memorial.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge emerged from the brambles to collect some pine nuts. It has a mate who is very shy and only glimpsed occasionally.

A small flock of Starlings moved over the grass by the Italian Garden looking for larvae.

A Carrion Crow ate a rat on the pavement.

A gentler scene in the crocuses on the east lawn of the Albert Memorial.

The familiar female Pied Wagtail was with her mate hunting along the edge of the Serpentine.

Pigeon Eater, on the right here, was with his mate at the Dell restaurant.

The Grey Heron chicks looked out of the top of their nest on the island.

The pair were back in the west nest, but their occupation is an on-off affair and it seems unlikely that they will nest seriously soon.

A heron stood at the edge the brambles under the bridge, a place that gives chances of both a fish and a rat.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes displayed at the west end of the island. They were probably not near a nest site here, but it was a place to keep out of the icy wind.

There are two other pairs, one of which was near the Lido ...

... and the other on the Long Water near the bridge.

The Black Swan pushed through some Coots at the Triangle.

The Mallard pair were still in the nearby nesting basket, so far unchallenged by any larger birds.