Encouraging signs from the herons' nest

The Grey Herons in the nest at the west end of the island were back together and one of them was sitting, a hopeful sign.

A heron stood in the top of a holly tree at the southwest corner of the bridge. When not fishing or hunting rats they like to have a high vantage point to survey the scene.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull at the landing stage also likes a high lookout point on the head of the Big Bird statue.

But the next dominant gull along the shore, Blue 2331 east of the Lido, had come down from his usual post to look for food along the shore.

Pigeon Eater was stretching his ferocious beak. A big gull can pick up a tennis ball, and young gulls sometimes use these as toys.

There are plenty of worms in the muddy ruins of the Parade Ground. Starlings ranged around searching for them while a Lesser Black-Backed Gull did the worm dance to bring them up.

The solitary Moorhen in the Dell has a favourite rock in the stream where it likes to stand and preen. It's still alone two years after it lost its mate to a fox. There have been occasional flirations with other Moorhens, but none of them has taken.

A Great Crested Grebe, one of the pair on the Long Water, was fishing under the willow by the bridge.

The floating basket on the other side of the bridge is supposed to be for Mute Swans to nest in, but so far none has shown any interest in it. Today it was occupied by a pair of Egyptian Geese, with a pair of Canadas wondering whether to chase them out and take it over. (I've turned the volume down -- all you can hear in this part of the park is the pestilential noise of the non-stop Iranian royalist demonstration outside the embassy.)

The basket east of the Lido is more popular, as it's in a secluded place screened from the path by bushes and reeds. But whenever I see a swan in it, it's a different one. Today it was 4HQE, a couple of days ago it was the pair 4GIS and 4HDE. When the swans get serious about nesting there's going to be a fight, and it's possible that the boss swan will prevent any of the others from nesting in any of the baskets.

A pair were courting in the water nearby.

The Black Swan was so intent on the chase that he didn't come over for his usual treat of sunflower hearts.

The tits in the Rose Garden crowded into a hawthorn as they waited to take pine nuts.

The Coal Tits at the southwest corner of the bridge remain shy and are difficult to feed, but they usually succeed with both of us trying.

The usual Robin here collected a good ration.

So did the male Robin at Mount Gate.

The female appeared in a bush holding a berry, but quickly dropped it and came out for her share.

A pair of Rose-Ringed Parakeets were taking an unwise interest in the Little Owls' hole near the Queen's Temple. I didn't see an owl, but as I left they both flew away suddenly, and probably it had come up to chase them away.

Better news for the swans

Great Tits and Blue Tits gathered in the Cootamundra Wattle tree by the gate of the Rose Garden and streamed down to be fed.

The Coal Tits don't have a chance in a crowd this size, and prefer to wait in a bush.

A Song Thrush in a hawthorn by the Queen's Temple sang at sunset. You can also hear the non-stop yelling at the Iranian Embassy half a mile away which has been going on literally for years: no matter how justified the cause of the protesters this has now grown into a major public nuisance and is certainly eroding public support for them.

While I was filming this a Robin appeared, not one I could identify but it seemed to know me and came to my hand to collect some pine nuts.

The familiar Robin by the Buck Hill Shelter perched on a post.

A Carrion Crow waited on an urn in the Italian Garden.

So far there are no interesting visitors to the ruins of the Parade Ground, just the usual crows, pigeons and gulls and a flock of Starlings gathering in a tree to swoop down and look for worms.

However, there are now reports of fair numbers of Redwings in various parts of London, so with luck we should see some, and maybe a Fieldfare or two.

There was only one Grey Heron in the nest at the west end of the island. I went round to the side where you can see into the nest, and it was definitely alone.

There was a heron sitting in one of the upper nests in the middle of the island, and you could see a few grey feathers through the twigs. It's almost impossible to know what's going on in these nests, as if a sitting bird changes its position slightly it can completely disappear.

Every year sections of the reeds on the Serpentine are cut down. This is the right thing to do, as it encourages thicker growth. It's also convenient for herons, which can stand on the edge of the uncut section and wait for a fish unwise enough to stick its head out.

Black-Headed Gulls formed a neat row on the roof of one of the boathouses.

A Great Crested Grebe at the island seemed to be single ...

... and so did this one fishing under the bridge: it isn't one of the Long Water pair as both of these are in full breeding plumage. I think these four are the only ones in the park, but we should get more grebes as spring approaches.

There's good news for the Mute Swan couple on the Long Water: the pontoon people are coming back early next week to remove a couple of rows from the end of the raft so that the boss swan can get through to his new mate. The change will be quickly noticed, as there are always a few swans hanging around under the bridge.

The boss's mate was still lingering at the Vista, and the female 4FUF was farther up the lake. The two take no notice of each other.

The lone teenager was still with its parents by the Dell restaurant. Being an only child has really stunted its social development.

The Black Swan on the Serpentine was following 4GIQ as usual, but when he spotted me he abandoned her and came straight over for some sunflower hearts.

Later they were on the other side of the lake by the landing stage. The dominant Black-Headed Gull, on the right of the picture, was clearing some other gulls out of his territory.

Mobbed in the Rose Garden

All the small birds were very hungry. A crowd of Great Tits ...

... and Blue Tits poured out of the wattle tree by the Rose Garden gate. I could only photograph them one at a time because most of them were hidden by leaves and blossom ...

... but then they transferred to a small hawthorn tree, where I filmed some of them bouncing around impatiently.

It feels slightly unkind to make them wait, but they know they will be fed in a few seconds.

The Coal Tits were in a nearby flower bed.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge was also looking most impatient ...

... and so was the one by the Buck Hill shelter.

The two at Mount Gate were in the same bush and being surprisingly civil to each other, long before the time when they are supposed to cease hostilities and pair up.

A single Long-Tailed Tit passed through the trees at the Vista. The main flock was moving round the other side of the lake, and it probably found them later.

The Grey Heron pair in the nest at the west end of the island were together again, with one arranging twigs inside the nest. It really does look as if they're serious about nesting.

The heron fishing by the Dell waterfall is always alone, mainly because any other heron that comes near gets chased away.

Pigeon Eater came ashore to look for his next victim.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull from the landing stage was on the north side of the Serpentine, as he has been several times recently. He seems to be extending his territory to both sides of the lake. Other Black-Headed Gulls that perch on the posts at the bridge soon get chased off, though he can't budge the large gulls.

The boss swan's mate was still waiting sadly at the Vista.

There was another swan on the Long Water, but it was a female with ring 4FUF. I've seen her on the Serpentine, so she must have flown over the bridge, unlike the silly boss swan who is still stuck on the Serpentine. She passed by the nesting island, but only to pick some snails off the posts.

A male cruised around the nesting basket east of the Lido while a female rearranged the straw in it. It's still too early to say whether they're committed to nesting here. The male is 4GIS, the female 4HDA.

Another pair displayed at the Lido swimming area.

The Black Swan was under the bridge, but hurried out as soon as he saw me because he wanted some sunflower hearts.

Several pairs of Shovellers were feeding in the Long Water under the Italian Garden.

A dank day

It was a dismal day of drizzle and occasional heavier rain. The Robins at the southwest corner of the bridge ...

... and Mount Gate were keeping fairly dry in the bushes, and provided a splash of much needed colour.

One of the Coal Tits at the bridge came up to the parapet in the Portguese laurel tree.

Another perched on a hawthorn in the Rose Garden ...

... where the bushes were full of hungry Blue Tits.

A Jay waited in a tree by the Buck Hill shelter.

The enormous area of devastation left by the Winter Wasteland is actually a good hunting ground for birds, since worms survive and are easy to find when the grass is dead. A Lesser Black-Backed Gull, a Jackdaw, and a Carrion Crow were all at work. Later, when the last traces of the fair have been taken away, if we are lucky we shall see Redwings and other winter thrushes.

Pigeon Eater took advantage of the raindrops on his feathers to have a preen. His head is beginning to get the pure white of his summer plumage.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull on the landing stage changed into breeding plumage months in advance of the others.

The next dominant one along the south shore, Blue 2331, struck a defiant pose as another gull strayed on to his territory.

The off-on nesting behaviour of the Grey Herons on the island is confusing, but it looks as if the pair in the west nest are finally getting down to it. Sorry about the low quality of this video, which was shot in drizzle and wind blowing raindrops on to the lens.

Later, looking through the twigs from another angle, you could see that one of them had sat down, a hopeful sign.

Another heron was fishing from the new swan nesting basket by the Diana reed bed.

A pair of Mute Swans were displaying to each other by the reed bed at the east end of the Lido. Swans have nested successfully in these reeds before, but if they are serious about nesting they would be well advised to take one of the floating baskets, which is only a few yards away and is safe from foxes.

The boss swan has still not figured out that he can fly over the bridge to get to his mate. He has always gone under it, and is too stubborn to change. His mate was lingering sadly by the reed bed near the Italian Garden.

In fact there was another swan on the Long Water for a short time, probably habing flown down from the Round Pond. Finding nothing going on, it flew out again a few minutes later.

The Black Swan was on the Serpentine with 4GIQ as usual. He hurried over for some sunflower hearts.

A pair of Shovellers fed under the parapet of the Italian Garden.

The Great Crested Grebes have always been unbtroubled by the pontoon blocking the bridge, since they can swim under it in seconds. Indeed they like it, as fish lurk under it an are easy to catch in the large clear space.

The number of page views of this blog has just gone over the 5 million mark. It's taken almost 14 years.