Blackbirds

A young Blackbird visited a blackberry patch on the Serpentine island.

An adult female was in the scrubby patch east of the Lido, where there are sloes on the blackthorn trees as well as insects and worms in the leaf litter.

Starlings at the Lido restaurant quarrelled over the ownership of a little plastic tub of mayonnaise.

I hadn't seen the familiar Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge since the start of the nesting season, but today it was back looking a bit worn but eager as ever for pine nuts.

A Jackdaw looked down expectantly from an oak near the Italian Garden.

There is a surprising lack of Rose-Ringed Parakeets eating the beans on the catalpa trees here. In previous years  at this time there is a host of them chewing at the pods. The only bird in the trees was a Great Tit.

A Blue Tit stared from a magnolia tree near the Rose Garden.

Both the male Coal Tit ...

... and the female were waiting in the big yew tree in the Dell.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in the big plane tree.

The young Grey Herons are down from the fifth nest on the island. One of them was exploring the shore.

The Little Grebe chicks and a parent were directly under the bridge and could be seen looking down from the parapet.

An aggressive Coot chick chased two of them round a bridge pier.

One of the two Great Crested Grebe chicks from the island was fed by its mother. The other was by itself practising vital fishing skills.

The smallest Egyptian gosling was walking better than yesterday, and very active. It looks as if it had a minor injury but is recovering fast.

A Common Wasp in the Rose Garden explored cuphea flowers, which don't look like a good source of nectar ...

... and a Greenbottle fly wandered over a pompom dahlia, even less promising. The tight double flowers beloved by gardeners are useless to insects.

A large Chicken of the Woods fungus made an impressive show on a tree stump at the Dell restaurant terrace.