Water Rail in the debris

I've been trying for some time to see the Water Rail in the reed bed under the bridge, and today it came into view for long enough to be filmed. A pity that so much rubbish has drifted into the edge.

Even less attractively, it was eating a dead and rotten Coot. I'll spare you that bit.

The ice on the Long Water has now completely melted, and the two Great Crested Grebes that had been trapped at the Vista cruised serenely down the lake.

But it was the third, single grebe that caught a large perch.

It turned the fish round and swallowed it with some difficulty, and took a few seconds to recover from the effort.

There are now two Coot nests in pools in the Italian Garden.

The lone teenage Mute Swan followed its mother over the Serpentine. It really does need to show a bit of independence.

It's not just the boss Mute Swan who bullies the lower ranking swans on the Serpentine. This one with ring 4FYF also throws his weight around. He attacked the teenager's mother among others.

The Black Swan, still in an aggressive mood, paraded around with his wings up.

The Grey Heron at the Lido was on the ramp, a place it likes when not actively looking for fish under the edge.

A pair of Black-Headed Gulls called to each other and walked around together. They won't be nesting till much later, after they've left the park for their breeding ground, but the display reinforces their pair bond.

The Magpies which usually wait for peanuts near the Buck Hill shelter perched together in a winged elm.

Both the Robins at Mount Gate were also waiting, the male in a forsythia ...

... and the female deep in the bushes and hard to photograph. She came out for a pine nut and dashed back in.

The birds waiting in the corkscrew hazel in the Dell often include a Robin ...

... as well as the usual pair of Coal Tits.

The Coal Tits in the Rose Garden also appeared ...

... along with a good number of Blue Tits.