Proper February weather

It was a thoroughly wet day with only a few pauses in the rain. A soggy Wood Pigeon ate flower buds in a myrobalan tree at the Triangle.

A Coal Tit in the Rose Garden was damp but eager to be fed.

A Blue Tit looked slightly dejected but came out too.

The Robin pair at Mount Gate were sheltering under their usual bush. This is the female.

Another Robin looked out from a dripping yew hedge in the Flower Walk.

The male Chaffinch had been keeping dry in a big yew. Their thick foliage gives the best shelter of any common tree.

The magnolia is beginning to come into flower, making a pretty background for  a Great Tit.

The pair of Long-Tailed Tits at the Vista were flitting about busily. I haven't yet seen one carrying nesting materials.

Jackdaws waited in a tree by the Italian Garden.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker called from a tree on Buck Hill.

The usual female Pied Wagtail hunting on the edge of the Serpentine ...

... was visited by her mate. They always keep some distance apart to avoid running into each other.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull at the landing stage was strutting about the rain-sodden planking.

The upper west Grey Heron nest on the island was busy with a pair adding twigs. One of them is young, hatched last year and still with a grey head.

A Great Crested Grebe wasn't worried by the downpour.

Neither was the Black Swan, who came over briskly for his daily treat of sunflower hearts.

The small camera that I use for video, which has been failing for some time, finally collapsed today. It's OK, I have a spare. Here to make up for the lack of videos are two from sunnier days.

A Blackbird looked for worms and insects on the edge of a bramble patch.

A Mallard drake showed off his iridescent head and secondaries as he preened on the edge of the Serpentine.