A swarm of Honeybees

A complete surprise today: a swarm of Honeybees appeared in a hawthorn tree by the Italian Garden. There are hives in the Ranger's Lodge Garden, so with luck the beekeeper ought to be able to collect and install them.

A male Hairy-Footed Flower bee was busily scraping at a dead leaf by the leaf yard. I couldn't work out what it was doing. Females build nests themselves, in holes in the ground, and as far as I know the male plays no role here.

The Reed Warblers have arrived from Africa. In fact I heard one last week tentatively beginning to sing in the reeds on the Long Water, and yesterday there was one in full song at the Vista, but you can't get a picture in either of these places. This one was in the reed bed under the Diana fountain. I got a picture of it among the reeds, but Ahmet Amerikali got a better one when it flew into a small tree.

The female Grey Wagtail was hunting along the edge of the Dell restaurant terrace ...

... and a male Pied Wagtail used a post at the bridge as a base for chasing midges.

The young male Chaffinch in the Flower Walk came to be fed. I haven't seen the old one here for a while, and it seems to have moved to the bridge.

The Robin is now always waiting, and follows me for some distance. After a while they realise that they can spare the effort by standing on my hand and collecting half a dozen pine nuts in one visit, but this hasn't occurred to it yet.

A visit to Mount Gate to feed the three familiar Robins there usually produces other birds as well. A Jay waited in front of the pink-flowered cherry tree ...

... and a pair of Long-Tailed Tits were going through the new leaves. I don't know whether they take sap from buds as Blue Tits do, or whether they were just looking for insects.

The cercis in the Rose Garden is in full flower, so it was definitely time to photograph a Blue Tit.

Two Feral Pigeons fought and chased each other on the ground nearby.

One of the young Grey Herons from the second nest on the island had come right down on to a wire basket and was looking utterly goofy.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes displayed by the moored boats. They have a choice of two nest sites nearby.

The Coot chicks from the nest under the Italian Garden had their first expedition on the lake to be fed by their parents.

The Black Swan had enticed his girlfriend 4GIQ on to the nest at the landing stage. Virginia found her shifting twigs about and looking quite at home, and took this picture on her phone. 

But when I got there she had left and was in the middle of the lake watching the Black Swan chase away her proper mate. He then had a triumphant flap.

The swans nesting at the Lido restaurant now have seven eggs ...

... and so do the pair in the Caroline enclosure.

The six eldest Egyptian goslings on the Serpentine were catching midges flying low over the water. The goslings can't live on grass and algae alone: they need extra protein to grow.

In the Dell stream, the female Mallard was being harassed by drakes. Virginia found three of them at it, and I saw two. She gave them a contemptuous look.