Magpie rinse and repeat

When Magpies wash, they have a brief rinse in the water, fly up to a tree to shake themselves dry, then return to the water and dry themselves again, several times.

A Jay waited in front of the yellow leaves of a Lombardy poplar. In autumn, when not much is happening, at least you get pretty backgrounds.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery wasn't visible the first time I went past, but appeared later in her usual lime tree.

I walked past the Robin at Peter Pan without seeing it, but a sharp call brought me to order and it came out for two pine nuts.

The Coal Tit pair were chasing each other around the trees in the Dell, but the male stopped in a willow for long enough to be photographed.

Pigeon Eater came ashore with a hungry look in his eye.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull on the landing stage had been pushed aside by the Herring Gull again ...

... but he was holding his own at the other end of the platform, pointedly ingnoring the intruder.

The mysteriously arrived Great Crested Grebe teenager is always by the reeds under the Italian Garden, a good fishing spot.

The youngest chick chased a parent past Peter Pan, squeaking loudly.

The two by the bridge were quietly resting, one with each parent. They have reached the stage when they take an active part in the fishing, though probably they're not much help and they are still having to be fed.

The two teenager Mute Swans were together by the boat hire platform.

The family on the Long Water were at the Vista trying to get food from the passing Saturday visitors, with some success.

Canada Geese took over the ruin of the swan nesting raft by the Triangle. It's sinking lower and lower at one end.

A group of Common Pochards at the Lido had a good proportion of females, which is unusual for Pochards where the sex ratio is badly skewed, as you can see in the larger flock on the Long Water. You would suppose that equal numbers of males and females hatch, but that the female are often predated as they nest on the ground.

The flowers in the Rose Garden were busy for the end of October. Honeybees were browsing on the red hot pokers, a yellow variety that flowers later than the ordinary red kind.

A Greenbottle fly rested on an Indian chrysanthemum.

A little Ermine Moth perched on a blade of grass beside the Dell. It flew away before I could get round to the other side for a better picture.