A bit of much needed sunshine

The Robin at Mount Gate came out as usual to be fed. It doesn't sing much ...

... but its mate was very vocal in a dogwood bush, and in this video you can hear the first one answering occasionally.

The Robin by the Buck Hill shelter, also waiting to take some pine nuts ...

... was not in the least disturbed by the air ambulance taking off a few yards away. The birds here see helicopters arriving and leaving all day and are quite used to them.

There was a good showing of Coal Tits, in the Flower Walk ...

... at the southwest corner of the bridge ...

... in the Dell ...

...and in an unseasonably flowering abelia bush in the Rose Garden ...

... where the male Chaffinch was also waiting in the hawthorn.

The floral confusion has also affected a red camellia in the Flower Walk.

The female Pied Wagtail was hunting along the shore at the Lido.

An unusual video from Spain sent by Tinúviel: a flock of Ruddy Turnstones was obliged to come ashore during a storm at Gijón. They wandered about on the sea front, not particularly shy as they had no experience of humans.

The Grey Herons in the east nest were interested in something at the bottom of the nest, which is quite likely eggs waiting to be incubated.

Cormorants at Peter Pan enjoyed the sunshine ...

... and so did Pigeon Eater in his usual place on the Dell restaurant roof.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull was annoyed because there was a pair of Canada Geese on his platform, too big for him to move. But he had cleared away all the other gulls and there wasn't another in sight within a hundred yards.

A Great Crested Grebe was fishing under the pontoons at the bridge, calling occasionally to its mate out of sight on the other side of the line. It didn't find anything in the deeper water in the middle of the lake, so it shook its head ...

... and went over to the shallows at the edge to examine the fallen leaves, where it found a lurking fish.

Wet day

It rained all day, ranging from a drenching drizzle to a downpour that had me sheltering under the bridge. Seen from there, the Canada Geese were not bothered ...

... and neither was a Great Crested Grebe fishing under the pontoons ...

... or a pair of Mallards in the Italian Garden ...

... but a Jay by the bridge was looking sadly soggy. A peanut cheered it up.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge has thick brambles under trees to shelter in, and was only looking slightly spattered ...

... but by the time I got to Mount Gate an hour and a half later, the Robin there was looking damp when it came out of the bushes.

The male Chaffinch in the Rose Garden perched on a hawthorn twig next to a Great Tit ...

... and the two Coal Tits ...

... and a small band of Blue Tits turned up for their daily treat.

It's odd that although there were lots of small birds here, and mobs of them on the way from the Serpentine Gallery to the bridge, the Flower Walk was completely deserted. 

It was the turn of the male Pied Wagtail to appear on the edge of the Serpentine. Males have a black back.

This is his mate filmed a few days ago, showing her grey back.

There were pairs of Grey Herons in the nests at the west end of the island ...

... and the east end.

It's hard to see what's going on in the upper nests, but it seems likely that at least one of them is occupied.

The solitary Moorhen in the Dell wandered through the wet grass.

Two Tufted drakes, now in their smart black and white breeding plumage, preened on a chain at the island.

The Black Swan was following 4GIQ as usual, and as usual he cruised over for some sunflower hearts.

She didn't come to share them. Perhaps it might have made her seem too friendly towards him. And as we know, she has a Mute mate though he seems untroubled by her persistent stalker.

Green Woodpecker at the Vista

A Green Woodpecker flew into a tree at the Vista and started probing the bark.

The small birds are getting noticeably hungrier as the supply of insects dries up, and I was mobbed in the Flower Walk, at the bridge, and here in the Rose Garden.

The Coal Tits have become as bold as the larger ones, and are no longer hanging in the background waiting for a gap in the traffic.

A Blue Tit waited on the armrest of a bench.

The Robin was in his usual rose bush.

A white Feral Pigeon wandered through the pansies and polyanthus in the herbaceous border. It's a smart bird, much cleaner than the grubby one at the Lido restuarant.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge is getting confident, and will now perch on my hand instead of trying to grab a pine nut without landing.

A Magpie looked down from an oak by the Henry Moore sculpture.

The Grey Wagtail landed briefly on a boathouse roof on its way along the Serpentine.

The usual Pied Wagtail was on the shore below. She had a bit of food, but what was it? It looks like a bit of bread, not something a wagtail would usually eat.

The tame Pied Wagtail that lived in Queensway years ago would take little bits of cheese thrown on the pavement.

Yesterday I filmed a Herring Gull doing the worm dance in the Rose Garden to the music from the funfair. Today there were four.

Another perched disrespectfully on the head of the goddess Diana.

A young Herring Gull on the Serpentine had a conker and a stone to play with, and got quite excited despite the disapproving stare of a Coot.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull hadn't been around for a while, but today it was strutting about its territory at Fisherman's Keep.

Bill Haines told me he had seen a Finnish gull on the other side of the Serpentine between the Dell restaurant and the island, and indeed had caught and ringed it: Blue 2303. I've been looking for it, but no luck so far. It was first spotted by Alan Gibson at Alexandra Palace.

A Great Crested Grebe fishing under the pontoons at the bridge saw one of the pair from the island and went into a defiant pose to protect its fishing ground.

Even when the Cormorants have massacred almost all the fish in the lake, a few remain through the winter. This one was trying its luck in the Italian Garden.

Egyptian Geese are not very ceremonious about courting, but there was a brief display before the male got down to business.

Almost all the Shovellers have left. Two drakes could still be seen on the east side of the Long Water.

An unexpected owl

On a dark drizzly day it was a surprise to see the male Little Owl looking out of the tree by the Queen's Temple. He soon went back in to avoid getting wet. Later, when I was on the other side of the lake, I heard him calling.

A Coal Tit in the corkscrew hazel in the Flower Walk perched in front of a Great Tit. The perspective slightly exaggerates the size of the tiny Coal Tit.

Both the Coal Tits in the Rose Garden arrved in the hawthorn tree and collected several pine nuts.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits passed through the treetops at the Triangle.

The Robin at the southwest corner at the bridge was in a belligerent mood and chasing Great Tits out of its tree, but it came out on a bramble to be fed.

A Jay perched in a winged elm by the Italian Garden.

Several Jackdaws were waiting by the Henry Moore sculpture. You never know where they are going to turn up.

The female Pied Wagtail was hunting all round the edge of the Serpentine.

A Herring Gull on the Rose Garden lawn did the worm dance to the distant music of the Wasteland.

Pigeon Eater was back at his usual perch on the Dell restaurant roof. I wonder where he goes during his absences. I saw him in Kensington Gardens once. There have been occasional reports of a pigeon-eating gull on the Regent's Canal only a few minutes' flight away, but without a photograph  or an observer who knows him well it would be impossible to know if it was the same gull.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull was literally at his post on the landing stage.

The pair of Grey Herons in the nest at the east end of the Serpentine island displayed to each other and poked around in the nest. It looks as if the female already has some eggs but hasn't finished laying. If so, she will start sitting soon. The unwarmed eggs will stay viable for several days in the meantime.

The heron in the new Mute Swans' nesting basket was still there waiting for a fish to come into sight. The basket has a little ramp made of wicker for cygnets to get in and out, a thoughtful touch but it remains to be seen how this rather frail structure will stand up to swans lumbering about in it.

The Black Swan was following 4GIQ ...

... but when he saw me he abandoned his hopeless pursuit and came over for some sunflower hearts.

The teenagers on the Long Water were flapping about. I still haven't seen one flying properly. No doubt they can, but with their parents still looing after them they have no need to go anywhere.

The Egyptian Geese from the Henry Moore lawn were wandering around Buck Hill. It's a relief to see both of them, as it means that the female is not having yet another unsuccessful attempt at nesting in a tree.

There was a pair of Great Crested Grebes at the west end of the Serpentine island, probably returned from an expedition up the river. You almost never see them travelling from place to place, as they fly by night.