Egyptian goslings on the Serpentine

A pair of Egyptians beside the Serpentine Road had six goslings. Thanks to Triss for this picture.

The Egyptians on the Mute Swan nesting basket at the Triangle seem to have claimed it as their own. They sat up and looked out warily as some Canadas approached, but these didn't try to climb on and they were able to relax.

There are three nesting baskets for swans on the Serpentine but only the one east of the Lido interests any of them, and today two pairs were trying to claim it. There was a bit of pecking but not a real fight while I was there.

I could only read one ring here, 4GIX, again one not seen on the basket till now.

The Black Swan was swaggering about on the Serpentine chasing any Mute Swans the encountered.

There is definitely a sitting Grey Heron in one of the large nests in the middle of the island. You can just see its head in this picture.

That isn't the top nest where I saw a sitting heron earlier. Efforts there seem to have faded, though today there was a single bird standing on it.

The pair at the west end of the island were together, but both were standing up.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes near the island displayed to each other, and one did the 'cat display', rushing away and puffing itself up to the largest possible size to look impressive.

A pair of Magpies have built a nest in a tree by the Serpentine Gallery. One of them was rearranging the inside. They aren't sitting yet, and the other Magpie was out of shot on a lower branch.

There were several Jackdaws on the Parade Ground, though still no sign of Redwings or other visitors.

Ahmet Amerikali saw a pair of Long-Tailed Tit at the northwest corner of the bridge gathering nesting materials. It's very early for them to be starting to nest, but at least this place usually has plentiful midges even in winter.

He also got a fine picture of a Cetti's Warbler at the other end of the bridge.

The Coal Tit pair here are eager to be fed, but still don't dare to come to my hand, which makes things hard as there are teeming Feral Pigeons on the ground that grab anything put down for them.

There's no difficulty at the wattle tree by the Rose Garden Gate, where Blue, Great and Coal Tits assemble and pour down non-stop.

The Robin at the Buck Hill shelter struck one of its elegant poses on a railing spike.

The usual two Robins at Mount Gate came out, but today the female was in the bush where the male usually perches ...

... and he was under the bush where she generally waits.

So they are already sharing territories without conflict Again it's very early in the year for such a thing to happen. All kinds of seasonal events were disorganised by the mild spell in the autumn, and later cold weather has done nothing to halt the process. Let's hope we can get through February without another freeze-up.

Jenna's South African Red Bug, last seen in December, has reappeared and was enjoying some raspberries.