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A pair of Long-Tailed Tits are building a nest in the mixed hedge around the Ranger's Cottage garden. The nest is safely out of sight in holly, but the birds could be seen jumping around in a section of hornbeam.

A pink camellia bush in the Flower Walk made a picturesque background for a Coal Tit ...

... and a Great Tit ...

... who then followed me to a blossoming cherry tree and provided more photo opportunities.

There were plenty of Greenfinches in several places around the Long Water, including a group of six by Magazine Gate. This male was in the usual Greenfinch tree north of Peter Pan.

A Blackbird perched in a tree on the other side of the path.

A Jackdaw waited on a lichen-encrusted branch beside the Serpentine Road.

The older two Grey Heron chicks have been climbing out of their nest for some time, but now the younger three are also getting the urge to wander.

The two are now spending most of their time in the larger nest below the small high one where they were hatched. It's more comfortable and not so exposed to the chilly wind.

A heron was fishing in the reeds by the Italian Garden.

The dead willow that stood in this reed bed has now collapsed. A Moorhen stood on a branch.

The Great Crested Grebe nest farther down the reeds seems to be a going concern.

A pair on the other side of the lake rested beside an unoccupied Coot nest. They were probably intending to take it over. It's a great advantage for grebes to have a well made nest rather than the sloppy mess that's the best they can manage themselves.

A pair fishing together on the Serpentine took a moment to exchange courtesies.

A Coot brought a strand of dead grass to its mate to line the nest by the bridge.

There were five new Egyptian goslings by the boathouses, which their parents were taking to the water as a dog approached.

Twelve Shovellers were visible on the Long Water, more than usually seen here. I'm not sure whether they are flying in and out or whether some of them are simply lurking under bushes out of sight.

News has come in that the shop at the boat hire place is to close at the end of the month. They had been having a clearance sale for several weeks, so this doesn't come as a surprise. The policy of stocking luxurious frivolities at eye-watering prices was a gamble, and it hasn't come off. The Bluebird Boats people had the sense to sell a fair selection of reasonably cheap children's toys that were good instant buys to pacify a squalling brat. They also sold duck pellets for feeding the waterfowl healthily, but of course that was before the rigid ban of feeding the birds (of which no one takes any notice).

I don't think much of the way the pedalos are run either. At busy times they aren't getting enough ready and queues are so long that people go away. They close every Monday and Tuesday on a rigid schedule even on fine days when they could be operating profitably, but stay open on horrible days when no one wants a boat. Bluebird had the sense to respond to conditions, which must have been hard on the staff, but I would rather have worked for this humane firm than under the rigid rule of the park management.

The Bluebird staff cared for the birds, and if one was in trouble they would happily take a boat out to rescue it. Now, even if the official Wildlife Officer wants to use a boat he has to get written permission from a park manager, and by the time it comes a sick bird may have died.