The first Mute Swan eggs

The swan pair 4DVZ and 4FYF nesting at the Serpentine outflow have at least four eggs, the first I've seen this year. It's not the best place, but at the moment there don't seem to be any foxes in the Dell. Last year the pair brought up one cygnet.

The Black Swan was with his Mute girlfriend 4GIQ on the nest at the landing stage, idly moving bits of nesting material about. Unfortunately my arrival spoiled the domestic scene, as he knows I have sunflower hearts, of which he is particularly fond.

The female Canada on the swan nesting island in the Long Water was still serenely in place. The chaos of invading swans on the Long Water has died down, and there are only a handful now. But sad to say, two dead swans have been seen here, though it's not clear whether they died fighting or from disease.

Jon Ferguson found an Egyptian Goose nesting in a plane tree on the north edge of Hyde Park between Victoria Gate and Marble Arch. It's a long way for goslings to walk from here to the lake but they have managed such distances before.

The Egyptians at the Lido are hanging on to their five goslings while the other broods dwindle -- except, of course, for the six half-grown ones at Fisherman's Keep. Constant attention by parents makes all the difference.

Yesterday I saw two Mandarin drakes in the Dell without a female and thought she was nesting, but today she was out with them. The pair climbed up the bank to beg for food from the people looking over the railings.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes on the Serpentine displayed to each other before setting out to fish together.

A male Coot by the boat hire platform jumped on a female intending to mate, but she wasn't in the mood and shook him off. He chased her angrily till she hid under the platform.

The Coots on the swan basket at the Triangle were building up their nest.

One of the young Grey Herons from the second nest on the island was climbing around recklessly in the trees.

A adult fished under the collapsed willow by the bridge, a good spot also used by grebes -- but not Cormorants, as they are too big to move around in the confined spaces among the fallen branches.

The Grey Wagtail and the Pied Wagtail were still at the bridge, a good place to hunt as there are lots of midges over the water. The Grey Wagtail preened on a bridge pier, the Pied Wagtail went after an insect.

Every year there is at least one Long-Tailed Tits' nest behind the Lido, towards the east end. A parent paused for a moment in a tree.

An anonymous contributor found a Mistle Thrush north of the Round Pond. There are sadly few of these now, while the Song Thrushes are doing very well. It's not at all clear why there should be a difference.

A Jay was waiting in a tree by the Queen's Temple.

A strong wind kept the insects in the Rose Garden out of sight, but the Dell is more sheltered and there was a Yellow-Legged Mining Bee resting on a leaf ...

... and a female Hairy-Footed Flower Bee feeding on bluebells. The flowers are bigger than the native wild ones, and I think they are Hyacinthoides x massartiana, a hybrid between the native and Spanish species.

A Small White butterfly was feeding on a purple deadnettle under the trees on Buck Hill.