Blackcap and Dunnock at Mount Gate

A Blackcap sang at Mount Gate in front of a cherry tree with pink blossom.

A Dunnock appeared for a moment behind the railings.

A pair of Long-Tailed Tits flitted around in the Flower Walk. I think they get that bend in their tail from sitting in the nest. It straightens out after a few minutes' flying.

One of the Blue Tits in the Dell is now coming to my hand to take pine nuts.

Ahmet Amerikali found the Cetti's Warbler at the Vista again. Probably the reason why they are more visible here than anywhere else is that they have to approach the edge of the bushes before crossing the gap. The first time I got a reasonable picture of one, way back in 2015, was here too.

A male Blackbird foraging on the lawn under the Henry Moore sculpture sang a couple of short phrases.

Both the Grey Wagtails were hunting from the posts at the bridge. This is the male.

One of the young Grey Herons from the second nest had come down on to a small tree on the shore. They have been ranging around quite a lot, and I'm sure it could get back to the nest ...

... where the other two were still in place.

A dramatic picture by Ahmet: a Great Crested Grebe under the Italian Garden with a perch that it only just managed to swallow.

A second Coot nest has hatched out, with five chicks visible, a short way south of the Peter Pan waterfront.

The five Egyptian goslings at the Lido annoyed their mother by fidgeting around when she wanted a rest.

The female Mute Swan nesting east of the Lido, 4FUF, was taking a turn off the nest. She looked at four of the six older Egyptian goslings. The other two were just along the shore. I couldn't see any eggs in the swan's nest, but they are good at covering them up when they leave.

Two Canada x Greylag Goose hybrids cruised under the bridge. Despite their different appearance they're quite likely to be siblings. These hybrids come out very variable.

The Canadas nesting on the Long Water were in place and all was peaceful. The gander may dislike the Coots nesting here but he won't be able to get rid of them.

Joan Chatterley found a good number of Mandarins on the lake in Battersea Park. They seem to come and go at random. Sometimes there aren't any.

There's a place in the Flower Walk where Speckled Wood butterflies appear every year. Today I saw six.

A very small bee rested on a polyanthus leaf in the Rose Garden. It looks like one of the many species of Andrena mining bees.

Singing Wren

A Wren sang and preened on a twig by the Henry Moore sculpture.

A Robin perched in cherry blossom by Peter Pan.

I almost missed the pair of Robins at Mount Gate, but they saw me leaving and flew out to catch me in a tree by the Albert Memorial. This is the female with her distinctive untidy feathers.

They were accompanied by a Blue Tit.

The Long-Tailed Tits nesting in the hedge of the Ranger's Cottage garden were bouncing about in the trees.

I couldn't see the Little Owl here, or the one at the Serpentine Gallery, a disappointment on a warm sunny day. The Ranger's Lodge tree had a pair of Stock Doves in it, a nuisance for the owls as they are rivals for holes and very persistent in occupying them.

Chiffchaffs were singing all round the lake but I couldn't get a picture. However, Ahmet Amerikali got a close-up of one at Russia Dock Woodland.

A Carrion Crow had been bathing on the fallen poplar at Peter Pan, and perched on the trunk to dry in the sunshine.

A Grey Heron was squatting in the Caroline enclosure. You don't often see one in this odd posture. It's actually sitting on its tarsi, the joints that correspond to human heels but in a bird's leg are much higher up.

The solitary Moorhen in the Dell has a favourite rock in the stream where it likes to rest, though it's often pushed off it by Mallards.

A Coot brought a titbit to the chicks in the nest under the Italian Garden.

There seems to be a second Canada Goose nest on the Long Water opposite Peter Pan. This shouldn't cause conflict with the one on the swan nesting island as it's a reasonable distance away and Canadas are tolerant of each other's families -- indeed they often cooperate in looking after goslings. But it's not a safe place with foxes ranging along the shore.

The Egyptian Geese with five goslings at the Lido have taken to resting on the jetty when there are crowds of visitors passing by on the shore. They have occasional trouble with Coots but can easily shoo them.

The female mute Swan 4FUF was sitting comortably on her best in the reeds east of the Lido.

Her mate 4FYY was patrolling the water with his wings raised menacingly.

The single Mandarin drake was on the Serpentine. He chased a Coot that had come too close.

A female Hairy-Footed Flower Bee fed on cercis blossom in the Rose Garden.

The odd angle makes it hard to identify this hoverfly, but the colours on top of its abdomen suggest that it's just a Common Drone Fly, Eristalis tenax. Later: a suggestion that it's likely to be Epistrophe elegans (or eligans, which I would think is a misspelling but often occurs).

The first Coot chicks

The first Coot chicks seen this year have appeared: six in the reed bed on the Long Water under the Italian Garden.

Great Crested Grebes made a nest farther down the lake but gave up. Now they are back again.

The Mute Swans 4FYY and 4FUF are definitely established on their nest in the reeds to the east of the Lido.

4DVZ and 4FYF already have at least four eggs at the southeast corner of the Serpentine. This railed-off area, which includes two reed beds, is known as the Caroline enclosure because there's a monument to Queen Caroline, wife of George II, for whom the Serpentine was made. It's a busy place at the moment, with the nest surrounded by Greylag Geese, a pair of Gadwalls, a Coot and a Moorhen.

The Canada Goose on the nesting island on the Long Water remains firmly in place, and none of the swans is prepared to challenge her belligerent mate.

The Egyptians at the Lido still have five goslings, though these are still small and far from safe in this place.

A Mandarin drake was by himself in the little stream in the Dell. I didn't see the pair.

The Grey Herons in the nest at the west end of the island, which had an early attempt at breeding and the abandoned the nest, were back again. This nest has been the scene of failed attempts for years, and no pair has yet succeeded here.

A young Cormorant wandered vaguely about the electric boat charging platform.

The female Grey Wagtail was hunting midges from the posts and chains at the bridge. I haven't recently seen the male who was with her a few weeks ago.

A pair of Stock Doves are nesting in an old broken lime tree near the Buck Hill shelter. Lower in this tree is a small hole where I have seen a Blue Tit, and a pair may be nesting here.

One of the Coal Tits in the Dell looked expectantly out from a bush. If they appear they always get pine puts put out for them on the railings.

A new Robin turned up near the Speke obelisk. It was familiar with park life and readily came down to take pine nuts from the ground.

The unattached Robin at Mount Gate is a regular customer and comes to my hand.

A male Blackcap sang in the hawthorn north of Peter Pan where Blackcaps, Greenfinches and Wrens collect to eat the numerous insects in the tree.

A Speckled Wood butterfly perched on a bramble below.

Later a Comma appeared in the same place.

I'm on shaky ground identifying the many species of Andrena bees in the Rose Garden, but I think it's safe to say that this one in a cercis bush is a Yellow-Legged Mining Bee, A. flavipes.

A good day for small birds

The hawthorn tree to the north of Peter Pan where Greenfinches collect provided a good view of a male.

Blackcaps also gather here, and there was a male on a high twig.

Another was singing on Buck Hill near Magazine Gate.

At the bottom of the hill the Long-Tailed Tits could be seen bringing insects to their nestlings.

On the other side of the lake another pair is nesting in brambles north of the bridge.

I think it's always the same Blue Tit that perches on the cabbage palm in the Rose Garden waiting to be given a pine nut.

A Robin followed me along the Flower Walk, collecting half a dozen.

A shy Song Thrush paused for an instant near the Italian Garden before fleeing into a distant tree.

Goldcrests are remarkably unworried by humans. This one was jumping about in a bush in the Dell.

A Wren sang in a hawthorn by the Ranger's Cottage.

The female Magpie near the Rose Garden, which I filmed a week ago pestering her mate to feed her, was still at it in the same place. She isn't going to nest till he starts bringing her worms.

Considering how hard it is is for a Grey Heron to break a twig off a tree, it's remarkable how big their nests are.

You don't really think of Herring Gulls as mild eaters of algae, but of course gulls will eat anything and it's the reason for their success.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes rested together at Fisherman's Keep.

Ahmet Amerikali saw one of the two Little Grebes on the Long Water near the Italian Garden ...

... and also found a Cormorant under the marble fountain with a fair-sized carp. Considering how long the Cormorants have been relentlessly fishing in this spot, it seems remarkable that there are any left.

The Coot nesting on the floating basket by the Triangle refused to be budged by a pair of Egyptian Geese having a noisy display.

The Mute Swan pair 4FYY and 4FUF, which have been claiming a nest site in the reeds east of the Lido for several weeks, are now building a nest there.