More Little Owls?

It was a very hot day and most of the small birds were sheltering in the shade, but the male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery could be seen in his usual lime tree.

I also heard a Little Owl call, unmistakably a male, just north of the Flower Walk opposite the circular yew hedge where the path leads to the Albert Memorial. I went there but couldn't see anything. There was also a faint and brief sound that seemed to be an owlet begging, but I'm not at all sure about that. This was certainly not the owl in the picture above, as the photograph was taken only a few minutes later and 100 yards away. I don't think the male owlet from the Serpentine Gallery would be making adult calls yet, so it looks as if we have another pair.

The usual Peregrine pair were on the barracks tower, with the male on the right here. There was no sign of young ones. So it seems that the young Peregrines seen at Imperial College are from a different pair.

A young Green Woodpecker could be seen under a tree by the Serpentine Gallery. It wasn't chasing a parent, so it seems to have achieved independence.

The Long-Tailed Tits were busy in the Flower Walk. They spend much time in hawthorns, which evidently have a large population of insects.

The young Pied Wagtail on the electric boat charging platform examined a cleat that hadn't been screwed on properly.

The Grey Heron on the Dell had taken over the rock in the stream again. The electric pump for the waterfall has failed yet again, and the water is stagnant and smelly. 

The female Great Crested Grebe bringing a fish to the chicks called to urge one of them to take it. In grebe language this short call means 'Hurry up' or 'Get on with it.'

The pair at the island changed places on the nest, but there is still no sign of hatching. After the interrupted history of this nest we really don't know when they started.

These Coot chicks in the Italian Garden fountains don't really need to be fed, as they can pick at algae by themselves, but their parents like to fuss over them.

The Tufted ducklings on the Serpentine are already expert divers, and are spending more time under water than on the surface. This makes them very hard to count, especially as they tend to stray off, but I think there are still seven of them.

The Mute Swans with three cygnets were resting behind the boathouse railings ...

... and the single cygnet was with its mother at Peter Pan.

After I mentioned that the fallen trees in the Long Water were a useful resource for birds, L. Fairfax pointed out that the same must be true for insects. Certainly the waterfront at Peter Pan, which has several fallen trees on both sides, is crowded with dragonflies and damselflies. By far the commonest is the Black-Tailed Skimmer. This is a male.

Painted Lady butterflies are still numerous in the Rose Garden. This one was resting on a juniper bush.

A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee worked its way over a sunflower.

The notices about 'blue-green algae' (which are actually not algae but cyanobacteria) are out again. In the background you can see the Lido ...

... which is still open for swimming. Perhaps it is a mistake to expect rational behaviour from the park management.