A grudging ration of rain

Not an exciting day, but at least it rained a bit and there is the promise of more. The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was visible in one of the usual lime trees ...

... and her mate less so in the other, but neither was taking any notice of events on the ground.

There has been a reasonable crop of blackberries this year and you would expect the big patch between Peter Pan and the Italian Garden to be thronged with Starlings, Blackcaps and other fruit-eating birds, but they haven't been showing up. At least there was a glimpse of a young Blackbird.

The Song Thrush east of the Lido is a regular sight. There are blackthorn bushes here to provide it with sloes.

The Long-Tailed Tits were in the catalpa trees by the Italian Garden again. Evidently there are plenty of insects in these trees, thought not as much as in hawthorns which are always their favourites.

Only Great Tits could be seen in the Dell. The Blue and Coal Tits were away on their own business.

Pigeon Eater was in his favourite place on the Dell restaurant roof.

The Grey Heron in the Italian Garden was prowling around the edge. It takes no notice of passing humans unless they deliberately bother it.

The eldest Great Crested Grebe chick of the six on the Serpentine is an only child and is being pampered by its indulgent parents. But it is beginning to learn to fish by following a parent when it dives, so it is not an idle spoilt brat.

The Long Water, surrounded by trees, bushes and reeds, and with only a few places where you can get down to the edge, is an awkward place for seeing Little Grebes. But occasionally one comes past the Vista and you can get a few brief glimpses of it diving. I didn't see the chicks at all today, but that is no surprise as they spend much of their time in the safety of the reeds.

There is a pair of Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water. They have made two unsuccessful attempts at nesting and now seem to have given up.

The Coot pair at the bridge were in possession of their nest while the local heron wasn't using it as a fishing platform. Nothing will persuade these stubborn birds to find a better place.

Just an ordinary Moorhen preening on the edge of the Serpentine, but I like these modest birds, smaller and quieter than Coots. They ought to be the national bird of Germany, as they have the colours of her flag.

The geese are having a thin time on the grass parched by the drought, but these Canadas have found a good feed in the ornamental water plants in baskets along the edge of the Serpentine.

A light breeze encouraged a few to take a practice flight up the Serpentine.

The four Egyptian goslings were in their usual place at Fisherman's Keep, obediently staying with their mother.

The Pochards seem to have taken over the fallen Lombardy poplar at Peter Pan, which was formerly a hangout for Cormorants.

Although I got a sight of two different hoverflies in the Rose Garden yesterday, by far the commonest species is the Batman hoverfly. Here are two on the strawflowers which they favour.

You may wonder what the common name for this species was before the emergence of the Batman comics. It was the Death's Head hoverfly, as the two black marks on its thorax can also be read as a skull.