Singing Goldcrest

A Goldcrest sang in a yew tree on the north edge of the leaf yard.

The pair of Coal Tits in the Dell were also in a yew, chasing each other flirtatiously.

A Long-Tailed Tit hung upside down in a tree near Peter Pan.

A Great Tit looked out from cercis blossom in the Rose Garden.

A Blackcap at Mount Gate was carrying a feather to line his nest.

A Song Thrush perched in a tree at the southwest corner of the bridge.

A Jackdaw was getting impatient on a dead hawthorn north of the leaf yard.

A Grey Heron fished under the willow by the bridge.

This nest on a chain by the island was originally built by a pair of Coots, which are good at making nests stick in awkward places. Great Crested Grebes probably couldn't have started it here. But they have taken over the twiggy nest and reduced it to the sloppy mess they prefer, and were adding bits of weed to it.

Somehow the Egyptian Geese at the Dell restaurant have managed to keep two goslings right in the heart of Pigeon Eater's territory. They passed close by his mate with the dangerous gull himself only a couple of feet farther away.

This Mute Swan sitting on the nest in the reeds at the east end of the Lido is 4FYY, the male of the pair. It's a sign that they haven't got eggs yet, as only the female -- in this case 4FUF -- sits on them. If he was guarding eggs while she was away he'd be standing over them.

Two interesting views of swans at the Lido by Mike Harris taken with his waterproof camera, at water level ...

... and below.

The Black Swan and 4GIQ were resting in the nesting basket at the Triangle, here seen from across the lake. They wouldn't be nesting in it, as they already have a place by the Diana fountain landing stage, and indeed no swan has ever shown signs of wanting to nest on one of these baskets.

Brimstone butterflies have been in the park for a couple of weeks, but they are hard to photograph as they are very active. At last one settled down to feed on a bluebell by the Vista.

And finally an Early Bumblebee has appeared in their usual place on the green alkanet near Temple Gate.

In the Rose Garden, a Yellow-Legged Mining Bee fed on a wallflower ...

... and a Honeybee was heavily laden with pollen on a Cuban lily (which isn't a lily at all, of course, or even Cuban: it's a type of squill, Scilla peruviana -- and it isn't Peruvian either, it's a Mediterranean plant).