The Coal Tits in the Dell called from a tree before I had got to the place where I usually feed them. They are enormously fond of pine nuts, and for preference live and nest in the stone pines that produce them. I don't think the park has any of these trees, which are a prominent feature of the northern Italian landscape.
A Blue Tit ate a pine nut on a hawthorn twig in the Rose Garden.
The cercis bush where they usually collect had been taken by Rose-Ringed Parakeets, scaring them away.
A Wren appeared on a twig at the southwest corner of the bridge.
The third Robin at Mount Gate was waiting on the railings.
A male Great Spotted Woodpecker climbed around a tree near the Italian Garden. A female has been seen here too, so there is a pair.
A Wood Pigeon fed on tender young leaves in a red-leafed cherry tree by the bridge.
Carrion Crows enjoyed a bath in a large muddy puddle near the Speke obelisk.
One of the young Grey Herons in the second nest on the island had climed out on to a branch, where it stood looking as gormless as only a young heron can.
The boss Mute Swan and his mate had left their territory on the Long Water to beat up the swans on the other side of the bridge, leaving the way open for eleven swans to invade.
They were jostling and chasing each other by the reed bed. The boss will have to drive them out when he returns, but Usually he can scare them away without a fight.
The Canada gander was guarding his mate on the nesting island in case any of them should try to come ashore. Aided by fury, he is more than a match for a junior swan.
The boss swan's unoccupied nest site in the reeds had a Moorhen sprawling in it,
So did the swans' nest at the Serpentine outflow which was also temporarily deserted.
At the nest site in the reeds east of the Lido, the male 4FYY saw off a rival ...
... and returned trumphantly to his mate 4FUF.
A Dark-Edged Bee Fly perched on a dry stem by the Ranger's Cottage. Their wings can't fold up, so this is their resting position.
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