The unfaithful swan

I wasn't expecting to see the Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery when I went out, as it had only just stopped raining. But there she was, tucked into a crevice in the lime tree and quite hard to see. When I went back later she had come out.

She passed the time by preening while she waited for the park to close and the people to go away so that she could start hunting.

Rose-Ringed Parakeets perched on a treetop by the Buck Hill shelter, absurdly conspicuous with no green leaves to hide them. When we had the Tawny Owl pair in Kensington Gardens and they were feeding their owlets, they used to hunt in the daytime. They would wait in a tree taller than the tree with the parakeets in the top, and when one wasn't paying attention they would sail out and pick it off. The parakeets have also been predated by Sparrowhawks, Peregrines, and even Hobbies which are no larger than them, but none of that kept them from multiplying rapidly.

A parakeet hanging a a yew tree at the bridge had taken four fruits. It chewed them briefly to get a bit of sweet juice, then dropped them. The ground under the tree was littered with fallen fruit and twigs the destructive birds had ripped off.

The female Chaffinch in the same tree was not amused ...

... and a Coal Tit had taken refuge in a bush.

A Blue Tit looked out from the yew in the Dell.

The Green Woodpeckers by the Serpentine Gallery haven't been much in evidence since they finished bringing up their young, but today one of them was looking for insects near the Queen's Temple. There is a clump of American oaks at the bottom of the hill where they perch, and they will be visible when the leaves fall off.

A Jackdaw requested a peanut on the bridge parapet ...

... and so did another on a post at Fisherman's Keep.

A flock of at least thirty flew over the Long Water. Their numbers are steadily increasing. Oddly, I've never seen a young one, while the young of the other three corvid species are quite visible.

A Common Gull preened on one of the plastic buoys surrounding the Lido swimming area.

There were two on the posts at Peter Pan.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull looked down from the head of the Big Bird statue. Every day sees more dark feathers on his head, and he will soon be in full breeding plumage while the others have barely begun to change.

The Cormorant that stayed under the Italian Garden has finally left, leaving the area clear for a Great Crested Grebe to fish. They will take quite small fish that the Cormorants ignored.

The Black Swan made another foray on to the Long Water unopposed and came back under the bridge in good order.

Thanks to news from Jenna we know why: the male Mute Swan 4HDW who was the new boss of the lake has done a runner. He was seen on the Round Pond, and now it seems that he has gone away entirely.

His deserted mate 4GIQ was at the Vista  with their teenager 4HTH. A male swan, 4GIC, was hanging around nearby till the teenager chased him off, not liking strange males haging around its mother.

It takes a long time for Tufted drakes to get the pure white sides of their breeding plumage. This one under the bridge was looking very smart in his new feathers.