Sheltering in the leaves

On a very hot day most of the small birds were sheltering in the bushes, but a Blue Tit came out in the Flower Walk to take a pine nut.

The young Robin at Mount Gate was the only member of the family to appear. They can find water at the Bulgarian drinking fountain a few yards away, which conveniently has a blocked drain so that a puddle forms under it where they can bathe.

A young Blackbird foraged in the bushes in the Flower Walk, beside what looks like the discarded egg of a larger bird. There is a bird bath in the Flower Walk which is regularly filled, and a drinking fountain for dogs with a convenient basin at ground level.

A Jay perched in the shade of the leaves before flying out to grab a peanut from my fingers. I'm sure they enjoy this demonstration of flying skill.

The female Little owlet at the Serpentine Gallery was in a skittish mood, and flew round to the other side of the plane tree as soon as I saw her. I followed and got a hasty shot before she fled into the chestnut tree and disappeared.

Julia sent two excellent videos. Swifts whizzed around a nest, maybe several, in gaps in the brickwork of an old house.

Two young Robins visited a gravestone in Fulham Cemetery.

The was a clattering of Grey Heron chicks begging in the fifth nest on the island, high in a treetop and almost impossible to see from the shore. I got a very sketchy picture of parts of two of them, and that's all we're going to see till they start climbing out.

The Great Crested Grebes at the island have made a sudden and unexpected effort and built a nest which is just good enough to mate on, but you don't expect fancy nests from these birds.  This is their third try this year, so let's hope they finally succeed.

At the east end of the island rivals were having a confrontation. One gave way and turned to leave, and was chased off.

There were two pairs of Coots with single chicks at Peter Pan, both from second nests, so it does seem true that they are less fertile the second time. These are from the nest south of the waterfront ...

... and these at the end of the fallen tree are from a nest on the other side of the lake.

The duckboards in the Italian Garden fountains are never used by ducks or any other birds as a way of getting in or out, but they do provide a convenient place to stand when preening.

For the last few days the Black Swan has been going about by himself and ignoring his Mute mate. Both seem depressed at their failure. But when he saw me he hurried over for some sunflower hearts.

The resident pair of Egyptian Geese cooled off under the marble fountain on the edge of the Italian Garden.

A female Pochard at the Vista gave the camera a quizzical look.

Little mauve convolvulus flowers at the corner of the Dell are popular with Honeybees.

As male Black-Tailed Skimmer dragonflies age they lose their powdery blue 'pruination' and become very drab. With most species it's the male that is showy and the female drab but here it's the other way around, with dull blue-grey males and beautiful yellow and black females.