Little owlet

The Little Owl pair at the Serpentine Gallery have produced at least one owlet. It looked down from a branch of the old chestnut tree.

Its father was on the other side of the tree.

A Song Thrush sang n a holly tree near Peter Pan.

Coots nesting in a fountain pool in the Italian Garden were taking care of their four chicks.

The Mute Swans with five cygnets came right up the Serpentine, passing within 50 feet of the Black Swan on the nesting raft, and I was worried that he was going to attack them.

But he stayed in place and they went under the bridge on to the Long Water.

Two hybrid geese, three quarters Bar-Headed and a quarter Greylag, fly in from St James's Park every year to moult their flight feathers. This one, which often spends quite a long time here, knows me and came over to collect some peanuts.

Seven Egyptian goslings huddled together for shelter from the gusty wind over the Serpentine.

An Egyptian with two grazed on the lawn east of the Lido.

The nest halfway along the island, which has been occupied by Great Crested Grebes and Coots, is now in the possession of a Tufted drake.

The single Pochard duckling, supervised by its mother, was diving busily at the outflow of a drain into the Long Water. This is a popular spot, evidently because the drain which comes from the Round Pond carries a lot of small edible creatures.

In the Rose Garden a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee climbed into a rugosa rose and spun around to get as much pollen as possible.

A Wool Carder Bee landed on a stachys leaf. They scrape the fluff off these leaves to line their nest, which is how they got their common name.

A Common Drone Fly browsed on a Shasta daisy.

A Seven-Spot Ladybird crossed the path.

The Mount Etna Broom tree by the fountain is in spectacular yellow flower.

Two tiny Yellow Fieldcap mushrooms came up on the lawn between the Rose Garden and the Dell. They are very frail and last only for a day.

More Mandarin ducklings

The Mandarin with two ducklings from the Long Water was on the Serpentine side of the bridge ...

... and there was another Mandarin with two ducklings only a few feet away.

There is also one on the Round Pond last seen with four, and were aren't sure whether there's one more family or the same one has been seen in different places. But anyway, it's been a remarkable year for Mandarins, which in many recent years have never bred in the park at all.

The four Red Crested Pochard drakes were still on the Long Water. One came over to the Vista.

The Coots with the perennially unsuccessful nest on the post at Peter Pan were building it up again ...

... and the new nest in the water lilies in the Italian Garden, which has a much better chance of success, was complete and occupied.

This Coot nested under the balcony of the Dell restaurant, which is Pigeon Eater's territory and he has taken at least one of the brood. But he was away for the time being, so the remaining two chicks could be brought out to feed.

Three Canada x Greylag Goose hybrids were among the geese that have come to moult on the Serpentine.

The Mute Swan 4GIQ and her hybrid cygnet were near the bridge. She shooed a harmless Moorhen.

She has been seen several times with her original mate while the Black Swan is still moping over the infertile eggs.

The swan 4DVZ with five cygnets had come recklessly far up the Serpentine, so it was lucky that the aggressive Black Swan was occupied. She came over hopefully to the shore, and on the way was photobombed by a Swift.

There were a great many Swifts around the Serpentine ...

... and a good number of House Martins.

A Grey Heron made a pefect touchdown on a post at the bridge.

One of this year's young ones, on a fallen tree by the Long Water, took advantage of rain-damped feathers to have a preen.

Two young Magpies on the other side of the bridge flapped and squawked to induce a parent to feed them.

Jays in the Flower Walk ...

... and beside the Long Water were looking soggy in the drizzle but still eager for peanuts.

A young Robin perched on a stump  near the Buck Hill shelter ...

... and a young Starling ate mahonia berries at Mount Gate.

Hesitant Coal Tit

A Coal Tit in a big holly tree at Temple Gate was hesistant about coming to take a pine nut from my hand. After I filmed it, the tiny bird plucked up courage and came down. One they realise it's safe they are unstoppable, and follow you taking pine nuts all the way.

A young Robin in speckled juvenile plumage was in the same tree.

A Wren at the northwest corner of the bridge had caught a grasshopper on Buck Hill and was bringing it  to its nest.

A Long-Tailed Tit family ranged through the bushes at Mount Gate.

A young Great Tit in the bushes beside the Henry Moore sculpture fluttered its wings to encourage its parents to feed it.

There's always a Chiffchaff singing here, but it stays in the treetops hidden in the leaves. However, Ahmet Amerikali got a closer shot of one in Battersea Park.

He also captured a Reed Warbler by the Diana fountain ...

... and I found one in a willow near the Italian Garden.

A longer video of the familiar Song Thrush in the leaf yard giving us his best performance.

Another view of the very confident male Pied Wagtail hunting along the north shore of the Serpentine. 

Pigeon Eater, in his usual place on the Dell restaurant roof, was looking a bit worn about the face, evidently from plunging his beak into the innards of pigeons.

A Grey Heron stared down at a gap in the algae covering a pond in the Italian Garden, waiting for an incautious fish to cross it.

A Coot chick on a nest opposite Peter Pan was annoyed by a Great Crested Grebe looking for fish among the submerged twigs.

The Black Swan came ashore to stretch and flap.

The Mute Swans with five cygnets were on the edge of the Dell restaurant terrace, safely out of the Black Swan's territory. Recently they have been coming up the lake as far as the island. We just have to hope that the two families don't clash.

A Painted Lady butterfly perched on an oxeye daisy.

A very sophisticated red rose in the Rose Garden is of no use to the bees as they can't get into it. But they are crowding into the simple single open roses.

They also like the the cornflowers at the back of the Lido.

Hunting in a tree

Reed Warblers are always hard to see in the reeds. I heard one singing in the reed bed east of the Lido, and then some bird flew up into a tree and I snatched some hasty shots -- but in fact I seem to have got a female Blackcap. Well, one warbler is as good as another. It looked out ...

... and hung upside down from a twig.

The holly trees at Temple Gate had several families of Great Tits leaping about. A young one came out on a twig for a moment.

Both the male Chaffinches in the Flower Walk arrived to be fed. This is the younger one.

The male Pied Wagtail near the boat hire platform was running around intrepidly between the feet of passing humans.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in the usual chestnut tree.

As I was taking this picture there was an alarm call of another Little Owl from the other chestnut, probably directed at a Magpie. I couldn't see the owl, but it's an indication that the pair may be nesting in this tree.

Ahmet Amerikali photographed a Cormorant catching a large carp in the Long Water under the marble fountain of the Italian Garden.

A Grey Heron walked round the lower bowl of the fountain looking for a fish.

Three herons and Pigeon Eater were standing on the posts at the bridge. It's not surprising that the Coot nest here never succeeds.

Coots will make nests just about anywhere, and this pair have decided to build one in the water lilies in the Italian Garden fountains.

The Black Swan was back on the nest sitting on the infertile eggs. He has to realise sooner or later that this is futile, but it doesn't seem to have dawned on him yet. Meanwhile the Coots have taken advantage of his temporary absence to rebuild their nest in the corner.

The 'Polish' Mute swan 4FUJ with pale feet was preening on the shore nearby.

The pair with five cygnets were at Fisherman's Keep looking for someone to beg food from.

The Egyptian Geese by the small boathouses are now down to six goslings, They were resting on the horse ride.

An Egyptian guided her two down the busy path beside the Diana fountain. This wasn't as dangerous as it looked, because the goslings could jump through the railings at any sign of danger.

The Common Pochard on the Long Water is closely guarding her last duckling. If it survives it will be the first time to my knowledge that this species has bred successfully in the park. The little duck is already diving like a pro.

Red-Crested Pochards appear and disappear mysteriously in the park, evidently flying from and to other parks. It's unusual to have four at once.

A pink rose in the Rose Garden clearly showed the fivefold symmetry of all members of the Rosaceae family -- and this includes apples, which always have five pips.