Hints of spring

It was a cold and grey day after yesterday's warm sunshine, but spring is definitely getting under way. The forsythia at Mount Gate is beginning to blossom, and the single Robin ...

... and a Blue Tit perched on budding twigs.

The cercis bush in the Rose Garden is sprouting buds for its purple flowers, where another Blue Tit ...

... and one of the Coal Tit pair waited for their pine nuts.

There is a large patch of blue squills below the Albert Memorial ...

... which I found when I went to find a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling from a treetop on the edge of the road. It flew away over the roof of the Royal Geographical Society.

A Green Woodpecker probed the long grass on Buck Hill looking for insects and larvae.

One of the young Grey Herons on the island had climbed out of the nest into the one below it and about six feet away. I hope it can get back, but even before they can fly they are good at climbing and jumping from branch to branch.

The herons in the west nest were together, but still showing no sign of nesting properly.

Pigeon Eater, who over the past few days has always been seen with his mate, was alone of the Dell restaurant roof. Perhaps his mate was out of sight on the roof, where I think she nests every year but I have no way of telling.

A Great Crested Grebe was fishing near the outflow.

Coots have nested for years on the submerged wire baskets at the bridge, which are filled with twigs to act as a fish hatchery. Until the day before yesterday this place was completely covered with pontoons used by the workmen repairing the bridge. As soon as the pontoons were cleared away the Coots returned, and have now built a large nest out of willow twigs.

There is competition among the Mute Swans for the nest site in the reeds east of the Lido. A pair had got in through the hole in the netting, but were forced out by the other swans glaring and pecking at them from outside. They were chased away by the pair 4FYY and 4FUF, who seem to be the leading contenders for the site.

The swans are much less keen on the nest basket that has been installed for them nearby. There was a pair on it, but as usual they only stayed for a short time. And I have never seen a swan on either of the other two new baskets.

This male, 4FYF, was preening by the place in the reeds at the Serpentine outflow where a pair successfully nested last year, though they only raised a single cygnet.

Sad to say, the Egyptian Geese have lost one gosling and are down to seven. They have been exceptional parents but it's a very dangerous place.

Joan Chatterley was at Battersea Park, where she found a single pair of Mandarins.

Last summer there were plenty of them, but when I visited the park a couple of months ago there were none to be seen. Mandarins are often missed, as they spend a lot of time in the bushes. I haven't seen the Serpentine pair for a while either.

She also got a very pleasing picture of a Seven-Spot Ladybird on a violet ...

... and saw a Brimstone butterfly. One has also been seen in Hyde Park.