Thrashing around the lake

Looking at this close-up shot of the Great Crested Grebe family from the east end of the island all seems calm ...

... but when you zoom out you can see the two-day mass swimming event on the Serpentine, which displaces all the water birds. The three families of Great Crested Grebes were crowded in at the edge. The second shot shows the chicks and a parent close to where their nest was on the edge of the island, but since then they have been far up the lake at the Lido where the fishing is better.

The single young grebe from the nest at the Dell restaurant, shown in the last shot of the video, is no longer being fed by its parents and is having to fend for itself. This is the most dangerous time for young birds, as fishing which was once play becomes a vital skill.

Looking at the spectacle of all those thrashing bodies is a reminder of just how bad humans are at swimming. Even squirrels do it better. This is an old picture taken in 2012 on the small primitive camera I had then, showing a squirrel which had fallen off a branch into the Long Water heading briskly for the shore, watched by a curious grebe.

Today's picture of one of the young Little Grebes and two Shovellers shows almost the same place opposite Peter Pan.

The Egyptian Goose family were not paticularly bothered by the event, as they stay close to the shore at Fisherman's Keep ...

... but most of the Mute Swans had to crowd on to the Long Water and the Round Pond. Here they are at the Vista ...

... with the lone cygnet. The two swans on either side of it were not its parents, and the one on the right is 4GIQ, the Black Swan's mate. The Black Swan himself was still on the Serpentine, touting for food at the Dell restaurant terrace.

The Red-Crested Pochard, Netta rufina, is originally a southern European duck, but the drakes' showy breeding plumage led to its being imported as an ornamental park bird. Since then a small feral population has established itself. In London they move around the various park lakes apparently at random, and you may see a dozen or none. All the Red-Crested Pochards in Kensington Gardens at present are drakes, but at this time of year they are in eclipse and have female-type plain brown plumage. Only their bright red bills and eyes show that they are male; in females both are dark brown. The one at the right in the thumbnail for this video is just beginning to get back to his breeding plumage with black and white sides and a big ginger bouffant head.

Pigeon Eater was preening imperturbably at the Dell restaurant.

A handsome specked Feral Pigeon rested on a ledge on the bridge.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in almost the same place in the plane tree as where I saw her mate yesterday.

It wasn't a good day for seeing small birds, though I did get a glimpse of a Coal Tit in yew at the corner of the Dell.

Luckily here are four good shots by Ahmet Amerikali, taken yesterday. Two Goldcrests appeared in the Dell, apparently rivals ...

... and one of them flashed its bright crest at the other.

A Chiffchaff ...

... and a female Blackcap came out at the southwest corner of the bridge.

Michaelmas daisies in the Rose Garden are now the main attraction for the bees, and a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee was at work on one.

Imperious Blue Tit

We've just had a picture of a Blue Tit's imperious stare, but there was another today and they do it so well. This was in the yew at the corner of the Dell.

The male Coal Tit did his best, but couldn't reach that level.

His mate was a few yards away in the corkscrew hazel.

Long-Tailed Tits clustered on a branch in the Serpentine Lodge garden.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery had moved a few feet up in the plane tree, unfortunately to a place where you couldn't get a view without a twig in front of him.

The Jays chased me from here to the bridge. This one appeared on the steps.

A female Blackbird dashed around in the scrubby patch at the east end of the Lido, looking for worms and insects in the fallen leaves. Leaf litter is a vital source of food for Blackbirds and thrushes of all kinds, and the park gardeners clearing it with leaf blowers has resulted in a severe population decline: Blackbirds have gone down by over 90 per cent in the past 50 years. I have several times pointed this out to the park management, but you might as well talk to a block of wood.

Pigeon Eater was at the Dell restaurant thinking about grabbing a bite of lunch.

The young Pied Wagtail was hunting in the debris at the edge of the lake.

A young Great Crested Grebe stretched its wings, which are now fully developed. Its mother arrived with a fish, but the family had to dive to avoid a Black-Headed Gull trying to snatch it. I think one of the chicks managed to eat the fish under water.

The young Little Grebes were fishing opposite Peter Pan. Again, there was no sign of a parent.

The single cygnet seems well integrated into the flock of Mute Swans on the Long Water. Again, there was no sign of its parents paying any attention to it.

Three Red-Crested Pochard drakes mingled with Common Pochards on the fallen tree at Peter Pan.

The Egyptian goslings at Fisherman's Keep huddled together in the brisk wind.

The adult fox by the Henry Moore sculpture was peacefully asleep at the bottom of the lawn.

A male Ruddy Darter dragonfly rested for a moment on the path by the bottom of the Dell.

The Common Wasps' nest in a tree stump near the Dell restaurant is still busy.

Savouring a pine nut

Tits are particularly fond of pine nuts and like to enjoy them piece by piece rather than swallowing them whole. This Great Tit in the yew at the corner of the Dell took more than two minutes to eat its treat, and I'm only showing the beginning and end here.

The two Coal Tits saw that there was food to be had and came out ...

... and a Blue Tit, also one of a pair, waited on the railings.

On windy days Carrion Crows love to play in the air.

A Jay by the Serpentine Gallery was expecting a peanut. The tree is an Indian horse chestnut. These don't suffer from the leaf miner moth that affects European species, but the trees are smaller and they are no substitute for our native horse chestnuts.

The male Little Owl was on his usual branch in the plane tree, which I thought he'd got bored with but he seems content to perch there for the time being.

Pigeon Eater is going into his winter plumage, with a dark streaked head. It isn't as smart as his summer outfit, but he needed the new feathers as he was beginning to get slightly tatty.

The Little Grebe chicks had moved up the Long Water and were opposite Peter Pan.

Again, there was no sign of an adult, though they seem to be too young to cope on their own.

The Great Crested Grebe chicks from the Long Water were on the Serpentine side of the bridge ...

... with the family from the north side of the island a hundred yards farther down the lake, distant enough to avoid territorial conflict.

The single young grebe from the Dell restaurant is now adult sized and spends much of its time fishing alone, though it's not fully independent yet.

A Moorhen led three chicks down the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace, a secluded spot because a row of planters by the railings screens the diners from the birds.

The Moorhen in the Dell, which recently had a companion, was alone again, and was under the small waterfall. Since it lost its mate several years ago it really seems to want to be single.

The two Mute cygnets from the nest in reeds by the lake outflow were out with their parents.

A fox on the lawn around the Henry Moore sculpture was joined by a cub.

A Speckled Wood butterfly rested on a fallen leaf by the Dell.

Small Copper butterfly

The Little Owls at the Serpentine Gallery were calling to each other in the plane tree, but I could only find the male. It's a very large leafy tree and easy to hide in.

As usual, the Jays demanded peanuts all the way to the bridge and along to the Vista.

A Jackdaw perched on the fallen tree at Peter Pan.

A Blue Tit in the Rose Garden was impatient at being photographed ...

...and so was a Great Tit at Mount Gate.

The young Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Dell restaurant terrace will come right up to you and run almost under your feet.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull admired his reflection at Fisherman's Keep.

The single young Great Crested Grebe on the Serpentine was looking for small fish and water creatures in the shallow water at the edge.

One of the two from the east end of the island was given quite a large fish ...

... but is now big enough to deal with it.

Two of the chicks from the Long Water were on the Serpentine side of the bridge ...

... while the third was preening with its father on the other side.

The Little Grebe chicks were by themselves on the east side of the Long Water. It looks as if they are fending for themselves now.

The lone cygnet on the Long Water was at the Vista with the gang of adults and seemed to be tolerated by them, but again there was no sign of its parents. 

A Red-Crested Pochard drake at Peter Pan was beginning to change into his breeding plumage ...

... and a Shoveller drake was getting his green head.

A Small Copper butterfly fed on vervain and daisies in a planter in the Italian Garden.

There was a hoverfly on a convolvulus in the same planter, I think Eupeodes luniger but there are several similar species.