Two by two

Grey Heron chicks have a way of appearing unexpectedly. I had no idea there were any in this nest in the middle of the island until they started making a racket while I was filming the other two young herons just a few yards away, which were quietly preening on top of their nest.

Here are the first two Grey Heron chicks preening on top of their nest. They are getting more adventurous and climbing around, though not yet quite ready to leave the nest. It was the loud shrieks heard while I was filming this that brought the younger two chicks to my notice.

Both the broods of seven Egyptian goslings were still intact, the older ones at Fisherman's Keep ...

... and the younger ones on the other side by the boathouses.

Two Little Owls were on view, both male. This is the one at the Serpentine Gallery ...

... and here is the one at the Ranger's Cottage.

There were also two groups of Starlings enjoying a furious bath at the Lido restaurant and in a swampy patch in Kensington Gardens.

And there were two kinds of bee together in the paperbushes in the Dell. A Tawny Mining Bee feeding on a flower was buzzed by a male Hairy-Footed Flower Bee.

There is a patch of spurge around the bushes, where a hoverfly was feeding on the odd green flowers. It is Eupeodes luniger, and better known by that name than its cumbersome English handle Common Spotted Field Syrph. The people who name insects are not noted for conciseness. Crescent Moon Fly would have been much neater.

Two fine pictures by Tom from two days ago: a pair of Great Crested Grebes dancing by the Lido restaurant ...

... and the Cetti's Warbler at the Vista in flight.

There are two kinds of wattle at the north gate of the Rose Garden, both used by Blue Tits waiting to fly down for pine nuts. This is a Cootamundra Wattle ...

... and this is a Wedge-Leaf Wattle.

Inside the garden, a Carrion Crow was trying its best to look sweet in pink cherry blossom.

Ahmet Amerikali was at the northwest corner of the bridge and found a Long-Tailed Tit carrying a feather, showing that they have reached the stage of adding the lining to their large and complex nest, which takes weeks to build.

I didn't see them when I passed the spot, but a Coal Tit I hadn't seen before was singing in a treetop.

A Chiffchaff sang near the Queen's Temple.

This disgraceful signpost at Temple Gate has been sending visitors in wrong directions for years. Every single finger on it is grossly out in various ways. You can see the Diana fountain over the road in this shot, with the signpost pointing directly away from it.