Autumn colours

The leaves are now turning to the quiet colours of an English autumn. Here are views of the Long Water looking north from the bridge ...

... and south from the Italian Garden.

A Magpie showed its fine irdidescent blue wings and green tail in a withered horse chestnut next to the bridge parapet. When I had given it a peanut and it had flown away ...

... Blue Tits ...

... and a Coal Tit appeared ...

... and there was a momentary glimpse of a Long-Tailed Tit, too brief for a good picture.

The Leaf Miner Moth that is ruining these trees also makes them attractive to insect-eating birds, but it would need armies of tits to eat enough moths to noticeably reduce the damage.

The Coal Tits in the yew tree in the Dell now seem to know that if they pose nicely for a picture they will immediately get pine nuts put on the railings for them.

There was also a Jay here, not a usual place. Most of the Jays are in Kensington Gardens.

Ahmet Amerikali got a fine picture of a Goldcrest in the yew by the bridge, which is a permanent home for them and they nest every year.

A Wood Pigeon ate berries in a nearby holly tree. These are now red and ripe, some overripe. The Wood Pigeon didn't care, and has also been eating them when they were still green and iron-hard.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery looked down from her usual lime tree.

The Great Crested Grebes with two chicks at the bridge seem to be making a point of catching fish in front of their offspring and eating them themselves, to encourage the young ones to learn to fish. But the two are fed quite enough to keep them going: they are far from independent yet.

Three more pictures by Ahmet: an adult Little Grebe on the Serpentine going to the island ...

... a Cormorant still finding fish under the Italian Garden, though there are none of a suitable size left in the pools ...

... and a Tufted drake flying over the Long Water.

A Common Pochard in full breeding plumage preened and flapped on the Serpentine.

The Michaelmas daisies in the Rose Garden, which were a bee magnet, are now mostly over, but the autumn-flowering camellia is now attracting Honeybees ...

... and Common Wasps.