A windy day

It was a day of strong gusty wind. A Carrion Crow at the Albert Memorial was lying down to avoid getting blown about.

A Wood Pigeon enjoyed cherry blossom in a windswept tree at the Triangle.

In another cherry beside the Long Water a Long-Tailed Tit was collecting lichen for a nest, which is in the brambles beside the path leading down to the pond dipping place.

A Blue Tit perched among purple cercis buds in the Rose Garden.

Another looked out of a nest box by the Italian Garden. These boxes are old and dilapidated and the park management never think about cleaning or maintaining them, and it's surprising that the the tit still considers it usable.

The forsythia at Mount Gate made a pretty background for a Great Tit ...

... and a Jay.

The faithful female Robin was waiting on the railings as usual ...

... and her mate was along the path in a tree.

A Jay found a space between the murderous spikes of the Russian Olive in the Rose Garden.

Unsurprisingly, the Little Owl was staying inside his hole, but the male Peregrine was out on the tower. He was on the downwind side but even so was getting ruffled.

You might have expected the young Grey Herons to be keeping down out of the wind, but in fact they seemed to be enjoying it.

A pair of Herring Gulls at the Triangle would have liked to have a courting ritual but a rival suitor turned up.

The new ramp for the swimmers at the Lido has proved to be a popular fishing spot for herons and Cormorants, and today it was the turn of a pair of Great Crested Grebes. The space under the ramp is clearly a place where fish lurk.

The Coots' nest in the reed bed under the Italian Garden is getting larger and larger as the restless birds keep bringing reeds to it. There's no sign of eggs in any of the visible Coot nests yet.

The Mute Swans on the Serpentine were in a belligerent mood and there was a lot of chasing, with Herring Gulls flying along as interested spectators.

The Black Swan was near his nest by the landing stage with 4GIQ. I still don't think he's going to coax her into nesting.

The lone teenager at the reed bed by the outflow was with his father, who was building a nest out of cut reeds laid down for his use. The time is close when the parents will chase the young swan off and he will have to get used to an ordinary swan's life on the crowded l;ake.