Fallen into the sere, the yellow leaf

One of the Jays at the Serpentine Gallery waited in a maple whose leaves were entirely withered and dry after the drought. We shall have to wait till next spring to find which trees have been killed and which have just shut down prematurely.

The male Little Owl looked down from the plane tree, whose leaves are in fairly good condition. One of the reasons why these trees are planted all over London is that they are very tough and not upset by adverse weather.

A large flock of Long-Tailed Tits worked its way up the edge of the nursery enclosure. The greenhouses are screened from public view by a band of trees and shrubs which are largely left to go wild, so it's a good place for small birds.

One of the Robins in the Flower Walk struck a grand pose on a branch.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge waited on a clump of withered blackberries.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull on the landing stage looked vigilantly around his territory.

Pigeon Eater, on the Dell restaurant roof, was looking disarranged with a loose feather. He is still in the middle of his moult into winter plumage, which will tidy up the worn feathers on his back and restore him to smartness. Like all birds that need to fly all year round, he moults his flight feathers one at a time on each wing, so he is never grounded as a waterfowl would be.

Some of the Mallard drakes are now back in their breeding plumage, a sign of the advance of autumn.

The Egyptian Geese with three goslings came over to the north side of the Serpentine, far from their usual place at Fisherman's Keep. Perhaps their parents hoped they would find more people to feed them, and fewer dogs to endanger them.

Once arrived in the safe place behind the barrier, they all had a good preen.

The single cygnet on the Long Water was alone again, by the reeds under the Italian Garden.

A party of Coots had taken over the remains of the raft on the Serpentine where the Black Swan and his Mute mate nested. You can see how thoroughly swans trash anywhere they nest, with the hurdle fence that was around the edge torn to bits and the raft starting to sink at one end.

The Great Crested Grebe fed their chicks under the bridge. One chick caught an insect before diving. Of course whenever a parent surfaces with a fish there is a frantic run from all sides to grab it first.

The oldest chick on the Serpentine tried pestering its father, who took absolutely no notice.

Nor did a man in a pedalo, engrossed in his phone. It makes you wonder why people come to the park if all they do is look at their little screens.

The Little Grebe chicks were dispersed around the Long Water. One was fishing under an oak.

A Common Blue butterfly rested on a clump of purslane in the Rose Garden. While there have been plenty of Holly Blues this year, this is the first Common Blue I've seen.

A Common Wasp was busy on a cuphea flower. I've seen wasps on these flowers before, and wondered what they were doing. They can't get into the long narrow flowers, which a bee would pierce with its sharp proboscis to get at the nectar, but wasps don't have one. Can a wasp chew its way in?