Doves of war

The bold Song Thrush by the Henry Moore sculpture was in the same place collecting larvae and insects for the nestlings. If you stay still and don't do anything to alarm it, it will hop around right by your feet.

At the other side of the lawn a pair of Robins were both picking up caterpillars for their nest.

A Whitethroat sang in a treetop near the Speke obelisk, too high for a good picture.

Two Stock Doves fought on a dead tree below.

Great Tits wanting pine nuts get furiously impatient in the five seconds it takes for a picture. They live so much faster than us that it's probably like a quarter of an hour to them.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery came out in the late afternoon, even more obscured by leaves.

A Grey Wagtail was collecting insects for nestlings on the edge of the Dell restaurant  terrace. The nest is at the other end of the Serpentine by the bridge, but wagtails travel fast and widely and you can see the same ones anywhere on the edge of the water and beyond.

A pair of Pied Wagtails hunted midges at Peter Pan.

The number of terrapins in a row on the dead tree opposite the waterfront has now gone up to five.

The Grey Heron sitting in the nest at the east end of the island stood up to stretch its cramped legs and have a preen.

Both the Great Crested Grebes were at their nest on the chain below. It looks as if they are now sitting properly, but I haven't yet had a chance to see eggs.

The male Mute Swan 4FYY was guarding the nest while his mate 4FUF took a turn on the water to feed.

The Egyptian Geese at the Lido are down to four goslings, but these are now growing fast and have a good chance of survival.

A Honeybee on the green alkanet at Temple Gate had remarkably tattered wings but was still flying perfectly well.

Narcissus Bulb Flies ...

... and the unattractively named Flesh Flies are now abundant in the Rose Garden.

Readers will know that I am no fan of cultivated plants, but it has to be admitted that some spectacular roses are appearing.

Bold Song Thrush

A remarkably bold Song Thrush collected worms and caterpillars for its nestlings in a tree near the Henry Moore sculpture.

A Chiffchaff sang in a tree near the Speke obelisk ...

... and so did a Greenfinch on a dead branch of the variegated holly tree between the bridge and the Vista.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery came out in the late afternoon, causing a great deal of running around the lime tree to find the least obstructed view. Luckily he was dozing and didn't mind.

There was a distant view of a Sparrowhawk circling over Buck Hill. It was looking down on a flock of Rose-Ringed Parakeets running for cover.

A Jackdaw at Peter Pan collected fibres of rotten wood to make a comfortable lining for its nest in a hole.

A Red-Eared Slider terrapin basked farther along the same fallen tree.

A Carrion Crow had won a bit of a hamburger at the Lido restaurant and was dunking it in the lake.

The first young Pied Wagtail I've seen this year perched on a buoy at the Lido. Judging by the way it was running around, it was already catching midges for itself.

Ahmet Amerikali was at Rainham Marshes, where he got a picture of a singing Sedge Warbler ...

... and a flying Little Egret.

A Grey Heron caught a carp in the Italian Garden.

A Mandarin drake was about to launch himself on the Serpentine.

An interesting picture from an anoymous contributor, a hybrid Gadwall x Mallard drake on the Serpentine. There are at least two of these in the park, and the other one has a green head.

A Grey Squirrel took its chances with the ferocious spikes on a cockspur hawthorn tree at Mount Gate to eat the blossom.

Female Garden Spiders only eat their mates occasionally, but it's best to be careful. This pair was in the reeds by the bridge.

The was a little Andrena mining bee in a wallflower in the Rose Garden, too covered with pollen to allow a guess at the species.

A Harlequin ladybird perched on a leaf. The stem was thickly covered with insect eggs, proving a good meal for it.

Ruby Tiger Moth

A Blackbird sang by the busy path along the east side of the Long Water.

A Robin in the Flower Walk was getting impatient with being photographed and wanted a pine nut.

A Starling drank from a duckboard in the Italian Garden. No duck or water bird of any kind ever uses these boards, but they're useful for other birds that want to drink.

A Carrion Crow had won a bit of fried chicken, and was dunking it in the Serpentine to wash off the Colonel's special sauce.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in the lime tree, very hard to see among the leaves. When I came back later hoping for a better picture I couldn't find him at all.

Two of the three Grey Heron chicks could be seen in the third nest on the island.

A heron fished in the reed mace at the east end of the Lido ...

... and another looked down from a tree on the far side of the Vista.

Ahmet Amerikali photographed a Cormorant still able to get a large perch in the heavily fished spot under the Italian Garden.

Another Cormorant jumped into a fountain pool. They've certainly taken all the medium-sized fish in these little pools, but Cormorants fly in from outside and don't know the local conditions.

The Coots in the reeds were washing. When one starts the other follows, and the behaviour spreads to the chicks.

A Moorhen preened on the edge of the Serpentine.

The Black Swan was at the nest basket with his Mute mate 4GIQ, still pointlessly picking up sticks and dropping them. She has six eggs now.

The female 4FUF has settled down in the reeds east of the Lido. I don't know how many eggs she has, as she is very good at covering them up when she leaves the nest.

Two of the four Egyptian goslings at the Lido had wandered a long way from their parents and were sprawling carelessly on the edge.

A Ruby Tiger Moth, Phragmatobia fuliginosa, rested on the path by Peter Pan. I had never seen one before and had to look it up.

There was a winged ant on the green alkanet by Temple Gate, just one ...

... and a single Buff-Tailed Bumblebee.

Common Sandpipers on the Long Water

Today's stars were two Common Sandpipers that Duncan Campbell found on the fallen poplar at Peter Pan. They obligingly stayed there while he went home and got his good camera.

The Goldcrest in the yew in the leaf yard was singing again and put in an appearance.

A Robin collected midges on the other side of the path.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery  came out in the afternoon, hard to see among the leaves.

Ahmet Amerikali found the male Grey Wagtail on the chain at the bridge, also finding midges for the nestlings.

He also got a shot of one of the Reed Warblers in the reeds under the Diana fountain.

A female Blackbird rooted furiously in leaf litter beside the path at the bridge.

The Coots' nest at the bridge was a busy scene, ornamented with oak and poplar leaves and with a good clutch of eggs. It's a pity it's in such a bad place, where a passing Herring Gull can snatch chicks whenever it gets the chance.

Moorhens like to rest next to things, perhaps to make themselves less conspicuous. Anything will do, whether it's a cleat on the boat hire platform ...

... or the six eldest Egyptian goslings.

A young Grey Heron and a Mandarin drake shared a tree beside the Long Water.

The Canada Goose family, always on the move, approached the bridge to go on to the Serpentine.

A second pair of Canadas is now interested in the Long Water nesting island that this pair used.

A male Brimstone butterfly drank nectar from lilac blossom in the Flower Walk.

A Dark-Edged Bee Fly browsed on a wallflower in the Rose Garden border.

A ladybird on a rose bush looked superficially like a native British species, but unfortunately it turned out to be an invasive Harlequin in one of its more normal patterns. Whatever their colour and pattern, the white patches on the head give the  game away.