Staying in the shade

The temperature is going up again, and rain is a distant memory. Mute Swans clustered in the shade of a weeping willow tree to preen.

Mallards took advantage of the shade of the planters along the edge of the Lido restaurant.

A pair of Canada Geese cooled down with a brisk wash.

A Feral Pigeon sunbathed on the parched grass under the Henry Moore sculpture. I don't think they do this because they enjoy the sensation of warmth -- in fact in their thick feather coats they must be quite uncomfortable. It may be because the heat causes the fleas and lice in their feathers to rise to the surface where they can be removed by preening.

During the last hot spell the small songbirds were almost invisible as they lurked in the bushes, but now the Great Tits ...

... and Blue Tits in the shrubbery at the southwest corner of the bridge are quite keen to come out for pine nuts.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery looked down from his lime tree. The drought is turning the leaves brown and they are starting to fall off ...

... and on the lawn under the Dell two Carrion Crows were eating them, most unexpectedly. The ordinary Small-Leafed Lime, Tilia cordata, planted all over the park, is a fragrant tree -- the French make its flowers into a tisane -- and perhaps the leaves are tasty. But I've never seen crows do this before.

One of the sadly tatty Jay parents was waiting for a peanut by Temple Gate. They'll regrow their feathers in the autumn.

Pigeon Eater and his mate are less often seen than formerly at the Dell restaurant, as the reduction in the number of people feeding birds has led to fewer Feral Pigeons on the shore here. He is still taking pigeons in other places, and you often see his distinctive leftovers of a pair of wings with everything else eaten.

The three young Grey Heron siblings were still together on the fallen tree across the Long Water from the Vista. Soon the friendship of nestmates will fade and they will become standoffish adults.

A young heron looked down from the treetop nest on the island, with the bulk of another, perhaps two others, also visible. They are adult sized now, and should soon start climbing around in the trees.

A motley crew of Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Black-Headed Gulls and a Cormorant gathered on the fallen poplar at Peter Pan. It's most fortunate that ludicrously exacting health and safety regulations make it impossible to get fallen trees out of the lake, as they make wonderful refuges for all kinds of birds.

The Great Crested Grebe family were out of sight behind the reed bed east of the Lido, but the mother could be seen busily fishing. This picture was taken a fraction of a second before she dived. In that instant she clenched down her feathers, making herself less buoyant, and her shoulders sank beneath the water.

The Coots at the bridge have recovered their nest from the Grey Heron that was using it as a fishing platform.

The Black Swan came charging over for some sunflower hearts.

There is a report of young Peregrines at the bell tower of Imperial College. They may be the offspring of the pair we see -- though now only occasionally -- on the Knightsbridge Barracks. It's not clear whether they have been nesting on the bell tower. It offers an attractive site in the cupola on top of the tower, but you would have thought that the tremendous din of the ten bells, which are rung quite often, would have driven them away.

A Small White butterfly fed on the vervain in the Italian Garden.