Robin success

The Robin pair at Mount Gate have at least one fledgling out of the nest, though I haven't yet got a picture of it as it kept lurking behind plants. There may have been a predator overhead, as its father was looking up nervously from the railings.

There was a Jay in a nearby tree, but the Robins seem calm about those and it wasn't looking that way.

A pair of Long-Tailed Tits bounced around in the bushes.

Most of the nest boxes in Kensington Gardens are 30 years old and haven't been cleaned or repaired for a very long time, but the tits are still using them. A Great Tit looked out of a box near the Henry Moore sculpture.

A ginger Feral Pigeon by the Italian Garden had an odd hooked beak, giving it a predatory look.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in his usual lime tree, and as usual hard to see through the leaves.

A Grey Heron stalked up and down the edge of the Dell restaurant terrace, hoping to be thrown a snack ...

... but it was Pigeon Eater who got the tortilla chips.

A Moorhen ate spilt soft ice cream.

The Great Crested Grebes' nest on the chain at the island is still intact, though an easterly wind makes a moored boat drift up against it -- fortunately not quite so far as to knock it over.

A grebe approached the Mute Swan 4GIQ's nesting basket to exchange hostile glances with the Coot. The swans have already brought down some of the flimsy side of the basket and it won't last long.

After weeks of shilly-shallying a pair of Mute Swans has finally settled down on the nest basket east of the Lido, which is even more broken though you can't see this through the reeds. The male was patrolling the water as the female sat on her eggs.

There is also a pair of swans nesting in the reeds under the Italian Garden. There is no good view of the site from any angle. One of the local Coot pair approached the male officiously and was sent packing.

The four Egyptian goslings at the Triangle are hanging on and beginning to grow.

A Mandarin drake rested on the rock in the Dell stream.

A fox was asleep in the long grass south of the Vista.

In the Rose Garden a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee revolved ecstatically in a pink rugosa rose. The dull thump from the Bluetooth speakers of the nearby rollerbladers suits the performance in a way, so I haven't edited it off.

A Harlequin Ladybird was in another rose looking for greenfly, though it had missed the one at the top left of the picture.

Doves of war

The bold Song Thrush by the Henry Moore sculpture was in the same place collecting larvae and insects for the nestlings. If you stay still and don't do anything to alarm it, it will hop around right by your feet.

At the other side of the lawn a pair of Robins were both picking up caterpillars for their nest.

A Whitethroat sang in a treetop near the Speke obelisk, too high for a good picture.

Two Stock Doves fought on a dead tree below.

Great Tits wanting pine nuts get furiously impatient in the five seconds it takes for a picture. They live so much faster than us that it's probably like a quarter of an hour to them.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery came out in the late afternoon, even more obscured by leaves.

A Grey Wagtail was collecting insects for nestlings on the edge of the Dell restaurant  terrace. The nest is at the other end of the Serpentine by the bridge, but wagtails travel fast and widely and you can see the same ones anywhere on the edge of the water and beyond.

A pair of Pied Wagtails hunted midges at Peter Pan.

The number of terrapins in a row on the dead tree opposite the waterfront has now gone up to five.

The Grey Heron sitting in the nest at the east end of the island stood up to stretch its cramped legs and have a preen.

Both the Great Crested Grebes were at their nest on the chain below. It looks as if they are now sitting properly, but I haven't yet had a chance to see eggs.

The male Mute Swan 4FYY was guarding the nest while his mate 4FUF took a turn on the water to feed.

The Egyptian Geese at the Lido are down to four goslings, but these are now growing fast and have a good chance of survival.

A Honeybee on the green alkanet at Temple Gate had remarkably tattered wings but was still flying perfectly well.

Narcissus Bulb Flies ...

... and the unattractively named Flesh Flies are now abundant in the Rose Garden.

Readers will know that I am no fan of cultivated plants, but it has to be admitted that some spectacular roses are appearing.

Bold Song Thrush

A remarkably bold Song Thrush collected worms and caterpillars for its nestlings in a tree near the Henry Moore sculpture.

A Chiffchaff sang in a tree near the Speke obelisk ...

... and so did a Greenfinch on a dead branch of the variegated holly tree between the bridge and the Vista.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery came out in the late afternoon, causing a great deal of running around the lime tree to find the least obstructed view. Luckily he was dozing and didn't mind.

There was a distant view of a Sparrowhawk circling over Buck Hill. It was looking down on a flock of Rose-Ringed Parakeets running for cover.

A Jackdaw at Peter Pan collected fibres of rotten wood to make a comfortable lining for its nest in a hole.

A Red-Eared Slider terrapin basked farther along the same fallen tree.

A Carrion Crow had won a bit of a hamburger at the Lido restaurant and was dunking it in the lake.

The first young Pied Wagtail I've seen this year perched on a buoy at the Lido. Judging by the way it was running around, it was already catching midges for itself.

Ahmet Amerikali was at Rainham Marshes, where he got a picture of a singing Sedge Warbler ...

... and a flying Little Egret.

A Grey Heron caught a carp in the Italian Garden.

A Mandarin drake was about to launch himself on the Serpentine.

An interesting picture from an anoymous contributor, a hybrid Gadwall x Mallard drake on the Serpentine. There are at least two of these in the park, and the other one has a green head.

A Grey Squirrel took its chances with the ferocious spikes on a cockspur hawthorn tree at Mount Gate to eat the blossom.

Female Garden Spiders only eat their mates occasionally, but it's best to be careful. This pair was in the reeds by the bridge.

The was a little Andrena mining bee in a wallflower in the Rose Garden, too covered with pollen to allow a guess at the species.

A Harlequin ladybird perched on a leaf. The stem was thickly covered with insect eggs, proving a good meal for it.

Ruby Tiger Moth

A Blackbird sang by the busy path along the east side of the Long Water.

A Robin in the Flower Walk was getting impatient with being photographed and wanted a pine nut.

A Starling drank from a duckboard in the Italian Garden. No duck or water bird of any kind ever uses these boards, but they're useful for other birds that want to drink.

A Carrion Crow had won a bit of fried chicken, and was dunking it in the Serpentine to wash off the Colonel's special sauce.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in the lime tree, very hard to see among the leaves. When I came back later hoping for a better picture I couldn't find him at all.

Two of the three Grey Heron chicks could be seen in the third nest on the island.

A heron fished in the reed mace at the east end of the Lido ...

... and another looked down from a tree on the far side of the Vista.

Ahmet Amerikali photographed a Cormorant still able to get a large perch in the heavily fished spot under the Italian Garden.

Another Cormorant jumped into a fountain pool. They've certainly taken all the medium-sized fish in these little pools, but Cormorants fly in from outside and don't know the local conditions.

The Coots in the reeds were washing. When one starts the other follows, and the behaviour spreads to the chicks.

A Moorhen preened on the edge of the Serpentine.

The Black Swan was at the nest basket with his Mute mate 4GIQ, still pointlessly picking up sticks and dropping them. She has six eggs now.

The female 4FUF has settled down in the reeds east of the Lido. I don't know how many eggs she has, as she is very good at covering them up when she leaves the nest.

Two of the four Egyptian goslings at the Lido had wandered a long way from their parents and were sprawling carelessly on the edge.

A Ruby Tiger Moth, Phragmatobia fuliginosa, rested on the path by Peter Pan. I had never seen one before and had to look it up.

There was a winged ant on the green alkanet by Temple Gate, just one ...

... and a single Buff-Tailed Bumblebee.