Chiffchaff and Coal Tits

A Chiffchaff called from a tree in the Flower Walk and, unusually, stayed in the same place long enough to be properly photographed.

The pair of Coal Tits in the Dell have reappeared after their summer break, and came down from the yew in the corner to take pine nuts from the railings.

A pair of Feral Pigeons shared a post at the Vista. Both are in the original colours of the wild Rock Dove, which is now a minority colour among London pigeons which mostly have the darker 'Blue Chequer' pattern. Pigeons do seem to prefer mates of their own colour.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery wasn't visible earlier, but appeared in his usual lime tree as I was going home.

The Grey Heron in the Italian Garden had been displaced by the Sunday crowds and was on the edge of the lower basin of the marble fountain. It could always jump down to the submerged wall below the basin if it wanted to look for a fish in the mat of algae.

Pigeon Eater and his mate were in their favourite place on the Dell restaurant roof.

A Black-Headed Gull made itself comfortable on a deserted Coot nest on the fallen horse chestnut north of Peter Pan.

I think these Great Crested Grebes with two chicks come from a nest at the east end of the island, where there is an overhanging bush with a suitable submerged branch. They also look like the pair that nested earlier on the chain, but lost their nest because the boat people tied a boat to the chain.

They were making territorial displays against the pair nesting halfway along the island. The nest is still occupied and the eggs are intact, but nothing seems to be happening.

The Mandarin chicks on the Round Pond are growing well. There are ten in this video, but they wander around and the eleventh may have been on the far side of the pond. In any case, it's a fine achievement.

A very pale female Pochard stood on a root on the far side of the lake at the Vista.

The Mute Swan pair brought their single cygnet over for a bit of begging.

The Black Swan rested in the shade of the willow at the Triangle. He is very subdued while he regrows his flight feathers and was not bullying the other swans in his usal style.

A heron stood over the three cygnets at the island.

A pair of Canada Geese flew down the Long Water. The population of geese remains high, and a lot that came in to moult in June are still here ...

... as you can see from this picture of the closed Lido.

The four Egyptian goslings cruised past Fisherman's Keep, led by their parents.

A Red Admiral and Painted Lady butterfly fed on the sea lavender in the Rose Garden. This is about as close as they can get without one chasing the other off.

The traditional Wood Pigeon video

A Wood Pigeon eating elderberries predictably reached too far and fell out of the tree.

A Blackbird sunbathed in dead leaves by the Lido.

A young Wren chaattered in the Dell.

A young Pied Wagtail was hunting on the roof of the boat hire building.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery lurked in the big plane tree.

Her mate was more visible in his usual lime.

The young Grey Herons in the fifth nest were lurching around restlessly. They will soon be climbing out.

Two of the three from the previous nest were on the posts at the island.

The resident of the Italian Garden returned from chasing off an intruder.

The single Moorhen chick under the Italian Garden pecked vigrously at the algae, eating some but also searching for little insects and larvae.

Although the Little Grebe calls quite often it seems to be the only one on the Long Water.

The Black Swan and his Mute mate can usually be found between the Diana fountain landing stage and the bridge.

The four new Egyptian goslings on the Serpentine were taking a turn on the water with their parents.

Pochards gathered on one fallen tree at Peter Pan. The one to the left of the Black-Headed Gull is a Tufted drake in eclipse.

Mallards rested on the tree on the other side.

A Red Admiral butterfly worked over the many little florets in the middle of a strawflower in the Rose Garden.

A Common Carder bee browsed on a vervain flower in a planter in the Italian Garden ...

... and a Batman hoverfly fed on a daisy.