Three grebe chicks at the island

The male Great Crested Grebe was on the nest at the Serpentine island. There was nothing to see until the female arrived with a fish ...

... which caused three chicks to emerge from his feathers.

The other family at the island were hidden among the moored boats, but the single chick on the other side of the lake was loudly pursuing its father.

The Egyptians brought their four goslings ashore.

The Black Swan and 4GIQ were feeding quietly by the landing stage.

The Grey Heron in the Italian Garden climbed through the irises to find a good fishing station.

Just along the path, a young Blackbird had eaten a lot of blackberries in a bramble patch and wanted to have a rest. If it hadn't been so dozy I'd never have managed to film it.

The male Blackcap often heard at the southwest corner of the bridge came into view for a moment.

A Coal Tit in the Dell collected a pine nut from the railings and took it up into the big yew tree.

A Jay beside the Long Water waited to fly down for a peanut.

At the Serpentine Gallery the male Little Owl  ...

... and his son weren't taking much notice of anything on the ground.

There was a report of Hobbies north of the Round Pond, the first I've had this year. I had heard what might have been Hobbies in this area before, but Rose-Ringed Parakeets can make a similar call and I had dismissed it and assumed that they were nesting outside the park as they sometimes do. I went up to the pond and yes, there was the call of at least one Hobby flying around, but it was moving fast among the trees and I couldn't see anything.

Two Carrion Crows were looking hot on the parched grass beside the pond.

The Mandarin ducklings were wandering around separately. The last report I had from anyone who had seen them together was yesterday and there were stll eleven of them.

The Egyptian family here had also split up and the teenagers were looking for surviving grass.

A male Emperor dragonfly rested for a moment in purple loosestrife in the Italian Garden.

A Small White butterfly browsed on the little mauve convolvulus flowers at the edge of the Dell.

Definitely a new grebe chick

As I suspected, there really is at least one Great Crested Grebe chick in the nest at the island, but you have to look closely here to see any sign of it on its father's back. There is a slight stirring of feathers at the beginning of this clip, and at the end the chick pokes its head out for a moment. With luck we should get better views later.

The pair from the east end of the island were not far away. The mother dumped the two chicks in the water for them to climb on to their father while she went fishing.

The grebes with a sigle chick had crossed the lake and were at the boat hire platform. All these pairs are quite close together and there will probably be territorial disputes soon.

In past years there has been a Moorhens' nest in a well hidden spot quite high up in the willow tree at the bridge. Earlier this year that part of the tree collapsed into the lake and it seemed that would be the end of the nest. But the Moorhens have carried on as usual, and here are two of their three chicks in the ruin of the tree.

The Ruddy Shelduck is a native of eastern Europe, Asia and North Africa. Any birds seen in the wild are the descendants of captive birds in collections, and they only turn up occasionally. Jon Ferguson found this one on the Thames at Twickenham.

As you can see, it looks quite like an Egyptian Goose, to which it is related. These birds are intermediate between ducks and geese, so their common names are haphazard.

On a hot afternoon an Egyptian Goose kept cool under the fountain on the edge of the Italian Garden.

The nesting raft wrecked by the Black Swan and 4GIQ is sinking at one end, but still provides a place for a pair of Egyptians and a Greylag to stand.

Canada Geese came under the bridge on to the Long Water in a cautious crowd, but the new boss Mute Swan 4HDW is a better tempered bird than the old one, who would have attacked them at once.

A Cormorant at the island played with a ginger Egyptian feather it had found.

A challneging stare from the Czech Black-Headed Gull on the old water level at Fisherman's Keep.

The young Lesser Black-Back that may be Pigeon Eater's offspring was mewling pathetically. It was ignored, it's quite old enough to feed itself.

There are two Grey Herons at the Italian Garden. One occupies the garden itself, and is seen here stalking past a patch of purple loosestrife ...

... and the other fishes around the reed beds on the lake below. If it tries to come up into the garden, where the fishing is better, it gets chased away.

There are still a few Emperor dragonflies over the water here.

Jut one Little owlet could be seen at the Serpentine Gallery, the male.

The female Peregrine was on the barracks tower again. Possibly this pair is actually the same as the one with young seen on the Imperial College bell tower, and they have returned to the barracks after throwing out their offspring.

The female Robin came out at Mount Gate.

A flock of Blue Tits was working through the trees at the northwest corner of the bridge. This is a young one, still grey rather than blue, but now independent and busily looking for larvae on the leaves.

A new grebe chick?

Long-Tailed Tits have become more visible as they finish looking after their young and join in the big flocks that sweep around the park in autumn and winter. They gathered at the Vista before crossing the gap together for safety in numbers.

Ahmet Amerikali found another one by the bridge ...

... and also a Reed Warbler picking an insect off a reed under the Italian Garden.

Pied Wagtails often run along the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace. Spilt food from the tables attracts insects.

A female Blackbird sunbathed near Temple Gate.

Both the female Little Owl ...

... and her daughter could be seen at different times in the big plane tree by the Serpentine Gallery.

The usual pair of Jays followed me down the edge of the Long Water taking peanuts on the way.

A Magpie east of the Lido looked hot and uncomfortable.

Two of the young Grey Herons were in the fifth nest while the third climbed up a branch above them.

A Cormorant shone in the sunlight at Peter Pan.

It's hard to see anything in the Great Crested Grebes' nest on the island, as it's in deep shade, but that looks like a chick poking its head out from its father's wing.

The family from the east end of the island were out on the water. A chick flapped its little wings.

The single  chick on the north shore of the Serpentine begged incessantly until it was shut up with a fish.

The two Coot chicks in the southwest pool of the Italian Garden enjoyed having the nest to themselves.

The Black Swan mooched around peacefully enough with 4GIQ. He really has become much less aggressive.

A Red Admiral butterfly flitted restlessly about the sea lavender in the Rose Garden.

Wasps have made a nest in a hole in a tree stump on the busy path beside the Serpentine.

Impatient Robin

The female Robin at Mount Gate expected to be given some pine nuts, and was slightly annoyed when I filmed her instead. Of course she got her reward immediately afterwards.

Long-Tailed Tits searched for leaf miner moth caterpillars in the badly damaged leaves of a horse chestnut in the Flower Walk.

Blackcaps are very shy and hard to photograph, so it was pleasing to get a picture of a female at the southwest corner of the bridge ...

... and Ahmet Amerikali found another near the Italian Garden.

He also photographed a Chiffchaff in the trees east of the Lido, evidently a young one as it was begging and fluttering its wings.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was back in his usual lime tree after several days' absence.

The male owlet was in the big plane tree ...

... and three hours later his sister appeared in the same tree.

Both the Peregrines were on the tower, but by the time I got round to it the male had flown off. The female was preening.

This isn't a good video, as I couldn't get near the swan nesting raft at the Lido restaurant and had to stretch awkwardly over the fence. But it does show two young Grey Wagtails and a parent -- the one on the far right. This is the second time the pair has bred this year.

The young Grey Herons in the fifth nest have started climbing around, and two of them could be seen in the branches above the nest.

The heron in the Italian Garden was standing on the edge of the northwest pool. It saw a fish, dived in, and missed it. Here it is crossly swimming back to a place where it could get its feet on the ground.

At least it was leaving the Coots' nest in the southwest pool alone, and the Coots reclaimed it.

They had also been troubled by the local Cormorant, but it too crossed to the pool on the other side.

It's too early to get up hopes, but the Great Crested Grebe on the nest on the island was sitting with his wings raised, and it's possible that he was sheltering a chick.

The pair at the east end of the island were out with their chicks on the water.

The Egyptian Geese at Fisherman's Keep still have their four goslings. The mother is vigilant and the goslings are keeping close to her, which is far from always the case.

A Ruddy Darter dragonfly perched on a yucca leaf in the Dell.