Great Tits nesting in lamp posts

This gas lamp post behind the Lido has had a Blue Tit nesting in it in earlier years. I thought that a Blue Tit was the largest bird that could squeeze in between the gas pipe and the edge of the cast iron lamp standard, but this year a Great Tit has managed it. You can hear the chicks calling in the first clip just before a loud phrase from a Song Thrush.

It's more usual to see Great Tits nesting in the large keyholes in the side of the lamp posts. This one is at the southeast corner of the Serpentine.

Young Great Tits are now out of the earliest nests and chasing their parents around. This one was on the east side of the Long Water, but others could be heard in several places.

A Greenfinch sang in a treetop above.

A male Blackbird carried a couple of twigs to a nest at the back of the Lido.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery came out in the afternoon. He was peacefully dozing in his usual lime tree and wouldn't look down.

The young Grey Wagtails are already starting to find larvae on the shore of the Serpentine, though I don't think they are up to catching midges in midair yet so they will still depend on their parents for a while.

The young Grey Herons in the third nest could be seen together. They are not quite ready to leave the nest yet, though they have been climbing around in the tree.

Pigeon Eater was in his usual place on the Dell restaurant roof. He looked bored.

He launched himself off the roof ...

... and snatched a Coot chick from the nest under the restaurant balcony.

The Coot chased him, but it was no use.

He carried it to the edge of the lake ...

... and swallowed it whole.

Three new Coot chicks on the east side of the Long Water at least don't have Pigeon Eater to contend with.

The Great Crested Grebe on the nest on the chain at the east end of the island was looking comfortable.

The nest has now been built up to a fair size. The sloppy nature of grebe nests has a certain advantage, as it makes them flexible and unlikely to be knocked off the chain. There is a great trail of algae and waterlogged twigs hanging down in the water underneath which gives the nest stability. But it keeps slumping doen and has to be constantly built up.

I'm very fond of the Black Swan but have to admit that he's gone mad from the excitement of having a mate on the nest. For days he has been picking up twigs and dropping them in the water instead of adding them to the nest. It was certainly he who evicted the Coots that were nesting in a corner of the raft -- he was seen by one of the gardeners tearing up their nest. The Mute Swans on the lake tolerate Coots nesting near them, but he won't.

A fox looked out from the long grass beside the Vista.