Coots get a nasty surprise

The female Canada Goose nesting on the little island in the Long Water was taking a spell off the eggs to eat and drink and display with her mate. The Mute Swans who previously used the island tolerated the Coots nesting on the edge but the Canadas find them annoying and have started chasing them away.

Two Mandarin drakes were wandering around in the Dell. They had been on the Serpentine with a female, so it looks as if she is nesting in a tree here. The Dell would be a good place to bring up ducklings, as gulls seldom visit and as far as I know there are no pike in the stream.

There is also a pair on the Round Pond but there is no sign of nesting here yet. The drake was resting on the edge.

A pair of Egyptian Geese here have just brought out seven goslings.

This is the third brood on the pond this year. One other pair has four, and one pair has a single one but they are keeping a close watch on it and it has a fair chance of survival.

The pair with five at the Lido restaurant were on the edge of the terrace, where the wall of planters screens it from public view and also makes it difficult for gulls to swoop down on the goslings.

Bill Haines reports that a Greylag ringed by him, White U594, has turned up at Lakeside Country Park, Eastleigh, near Southampton. This is the first time one of his ringed geese has been seen more than 100 km from London. (But it's not up to the astonishing sighting of one of his Coots in St Petersburg a couple of years ago.)

The two young Grey Herons were down from the top nest, I think for the first time. One of them gazed at the new world from a wire basket.

The other landed on the edge and was promptly chased away by two adults. The young birds will still be returning to the nest to be fed.

One of the young herons in the second nest made a trip outside in a strong wind and had to flap to keep its balance on a branch. The young birds take what seem to us terrible risks before their flying skills are developed, or even before they can fly at all, but I've never seen one crash on one of these explorations.

A Chiffchaff sang and leapt around in an alder tree near the Italian Garden.

A Wren sang in a blossoming cherry tree by the leaf yard.

A Robin at the edge of the Diana fountain was carrying worms to a nest in the nearby shrubbery.

An anonymous contributor sent a picture of a Blackbird doing the same by the Henry Moore sculpture.

The familiar male Chaffinch followed me from the Serpentine Gallery to the bridge, and then when I was coming back on the other side of the Long Water accosted me at the other end of the bridge. This bird certainly knows my route, and has appeared all over Kensington Gardens to demand pine nuts, and even in Hyde Park after flying under the bridge.

The Jackdaws also know exactly where to find me. This one trotted up through the daisies at the Round Pond to request a peanut.

In the Rose Garden a Blue Tit hung from a cabbage palm leaf ...

... and a Great Tit came out in the pink blossom of a crabapple tree.

No visit would be complete without seeing the Coal Tits in the Dell.