Invisible owls

The male Little Owl looked out of a shady patch in a lime tree.

I heard the female and one owlet calling in the plane tree, and the other owlet calling in the chestnut next to the nest tree, but in spite of going round both trees several times at different distances I couldn't get a sight of any of them. Sometimes it's just impossible to find a gap in the leaves.

There were few small birds to be seen as they lurked in the shade, but as I was going home along the Flower Walk half a dozen Great Tits came out in a bush to ask for pine nuts.

Canada and Greylag Geese rested in the shade of the trees along the south shore of the Serpentine ...

... but a few Greylags which had already regrown their flight feathers after moulting were making short test flights to get their balance back.

Various ducks and a Coot were shading themselves under the planter along the edge of the Lido restaurant terraace.

The Great Crested Grebes at the island gave up their nest in the wire basket for unknown reasons  -- the Moorhen is still there -- and have started rebuilding at the place halfway along the edge.

All seems to be going well on the nest under the Dell restaurant balcony.

A brisk breeze ruffled up a Moorhen's feathers as it turned downwind.

The elusive Coot chick in the northeast pool of the Italian Garden emerged from the irises to join the other four.

The local Cormorant ...

... and Grey Heron were doing tremendous execution in the pools. It's always the same two birds, it seems. Thanks to Ahmet Amerikali for both pictures.

The heron fishing under the willow by the bridge is also probably always the same one.

The three young ones in the nest at the east end of the island were getting adventurous. The position of the left one shows that they are already able to make short flying hops.

The Mute Swan 4DVZ led her three remaining cygnets up the lake beyond the island. The Black Swan was dozing on the shore and couldn't be bothered to chase them off.

Anything will do as a toy for a young Herring Gull, even a tiny bit of willow leaf.

A Yellow-Bellied Slider terrapin swam across the Long Water. There are five terrapins in the lake, all originally pets but dumped when they got too big and snappy. They do try to breed, but the climate isn't warm enough for the eggs to hatch.

A male Emperor dragonfly hunted under the parapet of the Italian Garden.

A Red Admiral butterfly drank nectar from an agapanthus in the Dell.