Agitated Wren

A Wren in the Triangle shrubbery was in a frenzy of scolding. Probably there was a Magpie in the top of the tree.

On a chilly day with a biting east wind the small birds were hungrier. A female Great Tit in hawthorn blossom in the Rose Garden did her juvenile 'feed me' act, vibrating her wings and cheeping pitifully. This is what she does to encourage her mate to feed her when she's nesting, but this time it was directed at me.

In fact there was plenty to be had. A Blue Tit appeared in the big holm oak carrying two caterpillars. This was a single hasty shot with no time to move around for a better angle.

A Robin looked up expectantly from under a rose bush.

On the lawn outside the Rose Garden, a Stock Dove wandered through buttercups.

The Song Thrush could be heard at the back of the Lido.

There were a fair number of Swifts over the Serpentine.

A Reed Warbler appeared for a moment in the Diana fountain reed bed.

A male Chaffinch called for service in a lime tree near the Serpentine Gallery.

A Jay waited for a peanut near the Italian Garden.

The young Pied Wagtail was using the Lido jetty as a base for hunting midges. It's certainly able to look after itself.

The female Grey Wagtail trotted along the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace.

A Grey Heron admired its reflection in the Dell stream.

The usual heron was on the terrace railings hoping to stare the people at the tables into throwing it a titbit.

A couple of Herring Gulls chased it away, just for fun.

The single tatty Black-Headed Gull flew across the Serpentine and landed in its usual place at Fisherman's Keep. It may look a mess but it can fly perfectly well and is holding its own.

An Egyptian Goose by the Serpentine sheltered her new goslings from the wind.

The six teenagers were also feeling the chill, and went into a huddle like they did when they were little.

Green Woodpecker on an ants' nest

A Green Woodpecker on Buck Hill dug into an ants' nest and happily devoured the occupants. One sought refuge by climbing on to the bird's back. Thanks to Duncan Campbell for this video.

A Song Thrush was in good voice on a dead branch near the Italian Garden.

An immature male Blackbird flew into a tree by Magazine Gate. He has his adult black plumage, but not yet his bright yellow bill and eye ring.

A female lurked in a bush at Mount Gate.

A pair of Long-Tailed Tits hunted in the trees overhead.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery dozed in the sunshine.

The male Grey Wagtail was hunting midges from a post by the bridge. Later he streaked down the Serpentine to the Dell stream, where midges are even more plentiful than under the bridge.

Ahmet Amerikali got a good picture of one of the Reed Warblers at the southwest corner of the bridge ...

... and also of a Firecrest in Battersea Park.

The Grey Heron sitting in the nnest at the east end of the island looked up for a moment.

We haven't been seeing much of Pigeon Eater lately, but today he was back on his home territory by the Dell restaurant.

The Coots on the nesting basket at the Triangle were doing some housekeeping, and you could see two of the eggs. I don't know how many they have, but the Mute Swan 4GIQ on the other side of the raft has six so there are a lot of eggs on this raft.

The swan 4FUF returned to her nest in the reeds east of the Lido. I could see two eggs, but she is good at covering them up and no doubt there are more.

Two Greylag Geese were fighting at the east end of the Serpentine.

The Canada family came to the edge of the Serpentine beside three of the six Egyptian teenagers.

A pair of Egyptians cropped algae off the rocks at the small waterfall in the Dell.

A Holly Blue butterfly fed on the cockspur hawthorn tree at Mount Gate.

A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee worked over the small flowers of a heuchera in the Rose Garden.

Crow vs heron

Carrion Crows hate Grey Herons, for no apparent reason as their lives hardly overlap. A crow saw a heron on the fallen poplar at the east side of the Vista and went for it, knocking it off the branch.

It's always fun watching a Starling having a wash. They do it with such vigour and enthusiasm, and obviously enjoy it.

The very impatient Blue Tit in the Rose Garden stopped dashing around and perched for a moment in a rose bush. Picture taken, it got fed. Maybe it'll learn soon that it has to pose for its portrait, as the little Coal Tits in the Dell have done -- though these seem to be busy nesting and I haven't seen them for a while.

A pair of Long-Tailed Tits hunted in the small trees at the foot of Buck Hill.

The male Robin of the pair at Mount Gate came out on the railings. I still haven't managed to see the young one.

A Wren perched on top of the corkscrew hazel bush in the Flower Walk.

A Reed Warbler showed for a moment in the reeds below the Diana fountain.

Both the Grey Wagtails were hunting midges over the Dell stream. This is the male perched on a rock in the small waterfall.

The six teenage Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine have now fully grown their flight feathers and are beginning to experiment with flying. It will be a while before they get it under control.

Their new wings are too large for them, as they aren't yet fully grown.

A blond pair stood on the edge at the boathouses.

The Canada Geese with three goslings, grazing on the south shore, saw a dog coming and made a dignified retreat to the safety of the water.

A Mandarin drake cruised by the Vista.

A female Common Blue Damselfly rested on the stonework of the Italian Garden. Males are blue, females come in various colours.

A Common Carder Bee browsed on cockspur hazel blossom at Mount Gate.

A small bee climbed out of a large double rose in the Rose Garden. It's some kind of solitary beee, maybe an Andrena species, but it would be hard to tell more as I only got a head-on shot.

Catching insects

A young Pied Wagtail was already catching midges for itself on the plastic buoys around the Lido swimming area. It paused for a preen.

There was an adult male on a post at the Vista, but it's not clear whether he's the father. There are at least two pairs on the lake.

There's only one pair of Grey Wagtails. One was on a fallen tree just south of Peter Pan, where there are abundant midges under the bushes. You can see one out of focus on the right side of the picture.

A Long-Tailed Tit near the Buck Hill shelter was busy picking up food for its young, and had a caterpillar and a couple of insects.

At the northwest corner of the bridge there was a lot of calling and rushing around in the bushes and I think the young ones are out of the nest, but the only picture I could get was of an adult.

The Robin near the Italian Garden with whom I had an encounter yesterday came out again, already carrying a spider but happy to take some pine nuts as well. 

A Great Tit waited on a rose in the Rose Garden.

A Song Thrush sang in the enclosure around the Lido terrace.

A Starling ate an apple that someone had spiked on the railings near the Buck Hill shelter, intending it for the Rose-Ringed Parakeets.

A parakeet ate early fruit in the red-leafed cherry tree near the bridge.

Two Reed Warblers were singing in the reeds near the Serpentine outflow, and one of them was partly visible for a moment.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in his usual lime tree, showing slightly better than usual.

The Great Crested Grebes at the island were at their nest on the chain. I haven't seen any sign of eggs yet. Also they both look male. Grebes have little or no idea what sex they are and sometimes make mistakes, but a pair that doesn't produce eggs will split up and the two will look for other mates.

The Mute Swans 4HDW and 4DTT, both widowed and now forming a new pair, were on the gravel strip on the Long Water. This is really not a good place to nest, as 4HDW knows perfectly well as his previous mate was killed by a fox there. But they are ignoring the safe nesting island near the Italian Garden.

The six Egyptian teenagers rested comfortably on the grass by Fisherman's Keep. Their mother, out of the picture, was keeping an eye on them as usual.

A pair of Gadwalls scraped algae off the concrete edge of the lake, visible in the clear water.

An allium patch in the Rose Garden had attracted a Honeybee and a pair of mating Harlequin ladybirds ...

... and a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee.

Tom was at Rainham Marshes and filmed a Spoonbill washing.