A busy scene in the Dell

The corkscrew hazel bush in the Dell was a busy scene. In addition to the usual Coal Tits ...

... and Blue Tits ...

... and the envious Robin trying to stop them getting at the food on the railings ...

... there was a Magpie ...

... and several Rose-Ringed Parakeets.

A Coal Tit at Temple Gate had an attractive background of berberis.

The male Robin at Mount Gate was singing in the forsythia bush ...

... and his mate was perched in the cockspur hazel tree.

Their peace was interrupted when another Robin appeared in the back of the bushes. The male flew towards it and it left at once.

Starlings were digging in the grass at the Diana fountain, bringing up leatherjackets. These are crane fly larvae, most destructive to plants.

This Jay at the Vista was looking sweetly appealing yesterday, but today it's just straight Gimme.

Pigeon Eater and his mate, on the right of the picture, called together to repel an intruder. It worked, and the intruder left without having to be shooed.

A Grey Heron visited the top nest on the island, where the chicks could be heard clacking their beaks.

The herons in the west nest seem to spend a lot of their time standing up, which is slightly worrying as one of them ought to be sitting. But one of the herons was looking into the bottom of the nest. I can hardly believe that the eggs have hatched already, but I may have failed to notice a sitting bird earlier as it can only be seen from one place through branches. Anyway, we shall have to see.

The narrow stretch of water between the Serpentine island and the shore is usually a scene of territorial disputes between Great Crested Grebes wanting to claim a nest site on the island. This pair was cruising around making aggressive noises because there was a grebe at the other end.

The collective noun for a group of Coots is 'a raft', and you can see why when they gather in a crowd on the Long Water.

A pair of Mute Swans displayed at the Lido, with two envious onlookers.

The gravel strip in the Long Water has been partly cleared, so the dominant swan pair and other waterfowl have somewhere to sit.