More Little Owls?

It was a very hot day and most of the small birds were sheltering in the shade, but the male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery could be seen in his usual lime tree.

I also heard a Little Owl call, unmistakably a male, just north of the Flower Walk opposite the circular yew hedge where the path leads to the Albert Memorial. I went there but couldn't see anything. There was also a faint and brief sound that seemed to be an owlet begging, but I'm not at all sure about that. This was certainly not the owl in the picture above, as the photograph was taken only a few minutes later and 100 yards away. I don't think the male owlet from the Serpentine Gallery would be making adult calls yet, so it looks as if we have another pair.

The usual Peregrine pair were on the barracks tower, with the male on the right here. There was no sign of young ones. So it seems that the young Peregrines seen at Imperial College are from a different pair.

A young Green Woodpecker could be seen under a tree by the Serpentine Gallery. It wasn't chasing a parent, so it seems to have achieved independence.

The Long-Tailed Tits were busy in the Flower Walk. They spend much time in hawthorns, which evidently have a large population of insects.

The young Pied Wagtail on the electric boat charging platform examined a cleat that hadn't been screwed on properly.

The Grey Heron on the Dell had taken over the rock in the stream again. The electric pump for the waterfall has failed yet again, and the water is stagnant and smelly. 

The female Great Crested Grebe bringing a fish to the chicks called to urge one of them to take it. In grebe language this short call means 'Hurry up' or 'Get on with it.'

The pair at the island changed places on the nest, but there is still no sign of hatching. After the interrupted history of this nest we really don't know when they started.

These Coot chicks in the Italian Garden fountains don't really need to be fed, as they can pick at algae by themselves, but their parents like to fuss over them.

The Tufted ducklings on the Serpentine are already expert divers, and are spending more time under water than on the surface. This makes them very hard to count, especially as they tend to stray off, but I think there are still seven of them.

The Mute Swans with three cygnets were resting behind the boathouse railings ...

... and the single cygnet was with its mother at Peter Pan.

After I mentioned that the fallen trees in the Long Water were a useful resource for birds, L. Fairfax pointed out that the same must be true for insects. Certainly the waterfront at Peter Pan, which has several fallen trees on both sides, is crowded with dragonflies and damselflies. By far the commonest is the Black-Tailed Skimmer. This is a male.

Painted Lady butterflies are still numerous in the Rose Garden. This one was resting on a juniper bush.

A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee worked its way over a sunflower.

The notices about 'blue-green algae' (which are actually not algae but cyanobacteria) are out again. In the background you can see the Lido ...

... which is still open for swimming. Perhaps it is a mistake to expect rational behaviour from the park management.

Staying in the shade

The temperature is going up again, and rain is a distant memory. Mute Swans clustered in the shade of a weeping willow tree to preen.

Mallards took advantage of the shade of the planters along the edge of the Lido restaurant.

A pair of Canada Geese cooled down with a brisk wash.

A Feral Pigeon sunbathed on the parched grass under the Henry Moore sculpture. I don't think they do this because they enjoy the sensation of warmth -- in fact in their thick feather coats they must be quite uncomfortable. It may be because the heat causes the fleas and lice in their feathers to rise to the surface where they can be removed by preening.

During the last hot spell the small songbirds were almost invisible as they lurked in the bushes, but now the Great Tits ...

... and Blue Tits in the shrubbery at the southwest corner of the bridge are quite keen to come out for pine nuts.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery looked down from his lime tree. The drought is turning the leaves brown and they are starting to fall off ...

... and on the lawn under the Dell two Carrion Crows were eating them, most unexpectedly. The ordinary Small-Leafed Lime, Tilia cordata, planted all over the park, is a fragrant tree -- the French make its flowers into a tisane -- and perhaps the leaves are tasty. But I've never seen crows do this before.

One of the sadly tatty Jay parents was waiting for a peanut by Temple Gate. They'll regrow their feathers in the autumn.

Pigeon Eater and his mate are less often seen than formerly at the Dell restaurant, as the reduction in the number of people feeding birds has led to fewer Feral Pigeons on the shore here. He is still taking pigeons in other places, and you often see his distinctive leftovers of a pair of wings with everything else eaten.

The three young Grey Heron siblings were still together on the fallen tree across the Long Water from the Vista. Soon the friendship of nestmates will fade and they will become standoffish adults.

A young heron looked down from the treetop nest on the island, with the bulk of another, perhaps two others, also visible. They are adult sized now, and should soon start climbing around in the trees.

A motley crew of Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Black-Headed Gulls and a Cormorant gathered on the fallen poplar at Peter Pan. It's most fortunate that ludicrously exacting health and safety regulations make it impossible to get fallen trees out of the lake, as they make wonderful refuges for all kinds of birds.

The Great Crested Grebe family were out of sight behind the reed bed east of the Lido, but the mother could be seen busily fishing. This picture was taken a fraction of a second before she dived. In that instant she clenched down her feathers, making herself less buoyant, and her shoulders sank beneath the water.

The Coots at the bridge have recovered their nest from the Grey Heron that was using it as a fishing platform.

The Black Swan came charging over for some sunflower hearts.

There is a report of young Peregrines at the bell tower of Imperial College. They may be the offspring of the pair we see -- though now only occasionally -- on the Knightsbridge Barracks. It's not clear whether they have been nesting on the bell tower. It offers an attractive site in the cupola on top of the tower, but you would have thought that the tremendous din of the ten bells, which are rung quite often, would have driven them away.

A Small White butterfly fed on the vervain in the Italian Garden.

Robin at Rima

Robins are none too visible at the moment, so it was pleasing to find one on the kerb of the Hudson Memorial. Evidently people have been feeding it here, because it gladly came forward to collect several pine nuts.

There was also a Carrion Crow dunking a bit of bread in the murky water of the pool. The memorial is sadly neglected and Epstein's relief of Rima has become very shabby.

A Jackdaw on the gravel strip in the Round Pond was dwarfed by the white bulk of a Mute Swan. It came over to the shore for a peanut.

A male Blackcap scolded a Magpie at the southwest corner of the bridge, flitting about in the leaves. I tried to get a picture, but there was always something in the way and this was the best I could do.

The holly berries are still very unripe and rock-hard, but that didn't stop a Wood Pigeon from eating them.

The family of Long-Tailed Tits in the Flower Walk were dashing around the bushes.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery had found a new lime branch to perch on where he was more visible than lately ...

... but when I went back later the female was lurking in the leaves as usual.

The Grey Heron that fishes by the bridge had taken over the Coots' nest, and the Coots were hanging around making irritated chippy noises. They have never succeeded in rearing a chick in this place but it's still their home.

A Cormorant on the edge of the water by the island seemed strangely inert. It didn't seem to be injured. I went right up to it, which normally would have caused it to jump into the water, but it didn't budge. I alerted the rescue group, in case it was ill, but it seems to be all right and was just in a stubborn mood.

Sad to say, the Great Crested Grebes have lost one of their chicks and are down to two. But it was business as usual, with their father bringing plenty of small fish.

They changed over, and the chicks climbed on to their father. Small grebe chicks are effectively quadrupeds, using their wings as front legs.

There was a rude interruption when another grebe surfaced next to the family. A brief but furious spat sent it packing, to surface some distance away. The moment was captured in a dramatic picture by Bob Siegel.

I don't think that this other grebe had anything to do with the loss of the chick. I've never seen them attack each others' chicks, though non-violent territorial confrontations do occur between families, always won by the pair with the most chicks.

Mandarin ducklings are not closely attached to their mother, and wander around in what seems a most dangerous way. However, all of them finally decided to come home to her on the gravel strip in the Round Pond.

A male Red-Veined Darter dragonfly rested on the path beside the pond.

A Willow Emerald damselfly perched on the railings by the bridge. They are more often seen on sun-warmed railings than anywhere else in the park.

As usual, the sea lavender in the Rose Garden was full of butterflies, with a Comma ...

... and many Painted Ladies on show.

Two Buff-Tailed Bumblebees shared a Mexican Sunflower in the Flower Walk. There was plenty of nectar for both of them.

A tricky task

The male Great Crested Grebe from the nest at the Dell restaurant was carrying the three chicks near the shore at Fisherman's Keep.

His mate arrived with a small fish. Anyone who has tried to feed a baby with a spoon will recognise the difficulty she was having in trying to get one of her chicks to swallow it.

The grebes at the island were staying together at their nest and fussing over the eggs. It's quite likely a sign that they are about to hatch, so this place needs watching.

The teenager was preening at the Triangle. Although it must have flown in with its parents, it always seems to be by itself.

There was a brisk west wind, and the Cormorants at the island were sitting down on their posts to avoid being buffeted.

The breeding success of the Grey Herons on the island has led to young birds being dotted all round the lake. These three on a fallen tree at the Vista all look similar, and are probably siblings from one of this year's earlier nests.

The heron at the Lido restaurant was prowling up and down the edge looking over the tops of the waterside plants, hoping that someone on the terrace would throw it a titbit. It must be getting some or it wouldn't keep doing it.

A male Pied Wagtail sprinted along the edge by the Dell restaurant.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in an awkward place in a lime tree and I couldn't get a clear view.

A Jay in the Flower Walk was expecting prompt service.

Long-Tailed Tits hunted through the trees.

The butterflies in the Rose Garden were staying low to get out of the wind. A Painted Lady ...

... and a Red Admiral fed on purslane in the herbaceous border.

A Honeybee browsed on milkweed flowers.

Ahmet Amerikali was at Rainham Marshes and sent four interesting pictures. A Reed Warbler fed a chick.

This is a young male Bearded Tit which hasn't yet grown its droopy black moustache.

A Great Egret stalked through the mud. People are calling them Great White Egrets now, but there is nothing remarkable in an egret being white and I think this is the influence of the Great White Shark in Jaws.

Later: David Element corrected me. This is a Little Egret with muddy feet, so you can't see their distinctive yellow colour.

A male Norfolk Hawker dragonfly, a species which is fairly common at Rainham but I've never seen in the park.