Playing the tables

Two Starlings preened on a chair at the Lido restaurant as they waited for a chance to raid a table.

They found a table with two pots of delicious mayonnaise, and set to work. But before long they were rudely knocked off by a couple of Carrion Crows.

A flock of Carrion Crows swept around a tall lime tree calling to each other.

A crow perched in a plane tree with a background of yellow leaves.

A Jackdaw preferred a lime whose leaves were still green.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in her usual lime. I still haven't heard or seen the male for some time, and hope he's all right. But male Little Owls do wander, and he may be a hundred yards away or more.

A Wood Pigeon, one of several, gorged on the ripe fruit in the arbutus tree next to the bridge. The fruit was plentiful and easy to reach, so it didn't fall out.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge appeared in the big oak tree where he was chasing the tits. They just dodge his attacks and carry on regardless.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits worked through the oak at the southeast corner of the leaf yard.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull stood complacently on the landing stage with not another of his species in sight. He monopolises the lake from the bridge to the Lido.

Two pictures from Ahmet Amerikali: a Cormorant in a pool in the Italian Garden grabbed a carp which was too big even for a Cormorant to swallow ...

... and a Great Crested Grebe caught a carp of perfectly sensible size on the Serpentine.

The Mute cygnet on the Long Water and its father were on the gravel strip beside a preening Grey Heron. They soon saw the mother being fed at the Vista and hurried over.

The trio of a Canada Goose and two Canada x Greylag Goose hybrids was also at the Vista.

The smallest Egyptian gosling, though still very undersized, is beginning to get primary feathers in its wings.

Gadwall drakes fed at Fisherman's Keep, showing off their quietly smart vermiculated plumage.

A Pochard drake preening at the Vista diaplayed vermiculations all over his back and sides.

Dawn and drizzle

A beautiful dawn, photographed by David Lacey at the Round Pond, was succeeded by a grey and soggy day.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery had found a place on the trunk of the lime tree where she was sheltered from the drizzle.

A Robin sang in a Lilac Chastetree by the Diana fountain. Its curious name comes from an old belief that it was an anaphrodisiac.

The Robin near Peter Pan was being fed, and was taking food enthusiastically. Earlier I had wondered why it came to my hand so trustingly when it didn't know me.

A Grey Wagtail was hunting on the edge of the weir at the lake outflow. There is quite a large chamber behind this grating, probably full of midges, and the bird crept under the grating to fly around in it.

A Jackdaw perched on the ornamental crown on top of a gas lamp post by the boat hire platform.

A pair of Magpies waited beside the Henry Moore lawn.

One of the four relentless Jays was in a birch at Mount Gate.

The young Great Crested Grebe of unknown origin spends most of its time fishing among the reeds under the Italian Garden. A Moorhen passed by, but there is peace between the two species. Coots on the other hand hate grebes, persecute Moorhens, and are obnoxious to each other.

One of the adults from the island was resting with a chick. The quiet lasted for barely half a minute before the chick piped up again and started prodding its parent.

The teenage grebe from the Dell restuarant was standing on the edge at Fisherman's Keep. Still lighter than an adult, it can stand more gracefully.

With the usual curiosity of a young bird, it examined the edge of the lake and an old cast-iron water level.

Its parents were not far away, diving in the shallows by the lake outflow. Fish lurk among the fallen leaves, so it's a good hunting ground.

The two Mute cygnets cruised by.

The Black Swan and his mate were at the Triangle, and instantly rushed over for sunflower seeds.

The dominant pair on the Long Water had cleared the place of all swans except for their own teenager, and came over to Peter Pan to beg for snacks.

Red-Crested Pochard drakes dived in the Long Water by the bridge. They are now completely in their fine breeding plumage. There are still no females here at all. We used to get a few in previous years, and once a pair bred successfully and raised two young.

The small fallen poplar beside the Vista has almost completely disintegrated, but there is still enough left for some Common Pochaards to rest on.

A bit of wind

Colder weather and a chilling wind brought Great Tits and a Blue Tit storming out of the bushes at the bridge to take pine nuts.

The usual Robin was there but doesn't like being filmed.

There are sadly few small birds in the Rose Garden now since the shrubbery has been destroyed, but a pair of Great Tits remain loyal and usually appear in a rose bush.

The Flower Walk was shut, as it is for some reason when there is a wind -- why are the trees here more likely to blow down than the tens of thousands of trees elesewhere in the park? -- so the usual Jay gang didn't pick me up till I was going home. This one was in a yew at Mount Gate.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was staying close to the trunk to avoid her feathers getting disarranged.

Pigeon Eater contemplated the waves and went into the water amid a flock of Coots. He didn't stay long and soon returned to the stable shore.

A Cormorant at the island extended its wings to dry them as far as it could without getting blown off the post.

The pair at the other end of the island settled down in their comforatble patch of grass.

Grey Herons and Cormorants throughly dislike each other as fishing rivals, but when a heron preened on a post the Cormorant couldn't help copying it. This was shot in the lee of the bridge, so conditions look calmer than they were.

The Long Water is sheltered by trees, so a heron fishing at Peter Pan was barely ruffled.

The Black-Headed Gull at the landing stage, seen here on the head of the Big Bird statue, is already beginning to regrow his dark head feathers, months in advance of the other gulls. I think that this is because this dominant bird is awash with testosterone.

One of the young Great Crested Grebes from the nest in the poplar on the Long Water was fishing under the bridge, with an occasional contribution from a parent.

In fact I don't think that the young grebe by the Italian Garden is a sibling of theirs. It's noticeably older, the same age as the one at the far edge of the Serpentine, three and a half months. But it's not that bird, as I have seen both on the same day. Could it have flown in from elsewhere with some parents who knew where the lake is?

The Mute Swan family were at the Lido. Bill Haines has been busy and one of the cygnets now has a ring, Orange 4HTQ. I couldn't see the other one's legs, but now Jon has corrected my observation -- I misread the Q as O -- and told me that the one lying in the foreground is 4HTP.

The Diana fountain was closed because of the wind -- an even weirder decision -- which was good news for the geese. Some Canadas flew in ...

... to join the Canadas and Greylags in the enclosure.

A pair of Shovellers revolved together at the Vista.

The muse of Architecture on the Albert Memorial. 'You're expecting me to build that?'

A wet day

It started raining during the morning and hasn't stopped since, though the 16 mph wind at the moment can hardly be described as a storm except by the doom mongers of the BBC. A male Blackbird perched on a yew hedge in the Rose Garden. They like rain, as it brings up worms.

A Robin on a nearby tree seemed happy enough. They also catch worms, showing amazing strength for their size as they drag them out of the ground.

A Blue Tit ...

... and a Coal Tit were keeping fairly dry by sheltering under leaves ...

... as was the Robin in the Flower Walk, where there are plenty of dense evergreens to give shelter.

However, a Jay on the railings was rather soggy.

A Jackdaw near Peter Pan seemed quite waterproof.

A Grey Heron preened a wing in the willow at the bridge.

A Lesser Black-Backed Gull had taken the remains of one of Pigeon Eater's kills to the Serpentine Road to finish it off. It's hard for a gull to rip bits out of the corpse, as its feet are small and weak and no use for holding things down. A Carrion Crow with its strong prehensile feet could easily hold it in place.

One of the young Great Crested Grebes from the Long Water was fishing among the wire baskets at the bridge. It's about two and a half months old and still being fed occasionally...

... though when its father caught a perch under the bridge he ignored the frantic cries and ate it himself.

The single young grebe from the nest at the Dell restuarant is almost grown up and its juvenile stripes are fading. It's a month older, having hatched in mid-July, and catching all its own fish now though when a parent is in sight it occasionally emits a few hopeful squeaks.

The single Mute cygnet on the Long Water and its mother were begging at the Vista, where some people were on a bench sheltered by an overhanging tree.

The father was occasionally chasing rivals, but they constantly come back to feed on the reeds and he can't keep them all away all the time.

The Black Swan left under the bridge after an encounter, but he came back later.

The wild vervain in the Italian Garden has now been cleared away, but there are still a few stalks left for the Egyptian Geese, who seem oddly fond of this woody plant.

A Common Wasp in the Rose Garden, undaunted by the rain, was browsing on an autumn-flowering camellia.