Imperious Blue Tit

We've just had a picture of a Blue Tit's imperious stare, but there was another today and they do it so well. This was in the yew at the corner of the Dell.

The male Coal Tit did his best, but couldn't reach that level.

His mate was a few yards away in the corkscrew hazel.

Long-Tailed Tits clustered on a branch in the Serpentine Lodge garden.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery had moved a few feet up in the plane tree, unfortunately to a place where you couldn't get a view without a twig in front of him.

The Jays chased me from here to the bridge. This one appeared on the steps.

A female Blackbird dashed around in the scrubby patch at the east end of the Lido, looking for worms and insects in the fallen leaves. Leaf litter is a vital source of food for Blackbirds and thrushes of all kinds, and the park gardeners clearing it with leaf blowers has resulted in a severe population decline: Blackbirds have gone down by over 90 per cent in the past 50 years. I have several times pointed this out to the park management, but you might as well talk to a block of wood.

Pigeon Eater was at the Dell restaurant thinking about grabbing a bite of lunch.

The young Pied Wagtail was hunting in the debris at the edge of the lake.

A young Great Crested Grebe stretched its wings, which are now fully developed. Its mother arrived with a fish, but the family had to dive to avoid a Black-Headed Gull trying to snatch it. I think one of the chicks managed to eat the fish under water.

The young Little Grebes were fishing opposite Peter Pan. Again, there was no sign of a parent.

The single cygnet seems well integrated into the flock of Mute Swans on the Long Water. Again, there was no sign of its parents paying any attention to it.

Three Red-Crested Pochard drakes mingled with Common Pochards on the fallen tree at Peter Pan.

The Egyptian goslings at Fisherman's Keep huddled together in the brisk wind.

The adult fox by the Henry Moore sculpture was peacefully asleep at the bottom of the lawn.

A male Ruddy Darter dragonfly rested for a moment on the path by the bottom of the Dell.

The Common Wasps' nest in a tree stump near the Dell restaurant is still busy.

Savouring a pine nut

Tits are particularly fond of pine nuts and like to enjoy them piece by piece rather than swallowing them whole. This Great Tit in the yew at the corner of the Dell took more than two minutes to eat its treat, and I'm only showing the beginning and end here.

The two Coal Tits saw that there was food to be had and came out ...

... and a Blue Tit, also one of a pair, waited on the railings.

On windy days Carrion Crows love to play in the air.

A Jay by the Serpentine Gallery was expecting a peanut. The tree is an Indian horse chestnut. These don't suffer from the leaf miner moth that affects European species, but the trees are smaller and they are no substitute for our native horse chestnuts.

The male Little Owl was on his usual branch in the plane tree, which I thought he'd got bored with but he seems content to perch there for the time being.

Pigeon Eater is going into his winter plumage, with a dark streaked head. It isn't as smart as his summer outfit, but he needed the new feathers as he was beginning to get slightly tatty.

The Little Grebe chicks had moved up the Long Water and were opposite Peter Pan.

Again, there was no sign of an adult, though they seem to be too young to cope on their own.

The Great Crested Grebe chicks from the Long Water were on the Serpentine side of the bridge ...

... with the family from the north side of the island a hundred yards farther down the lake, distant enough to avoid territorial conflict.

The single young grebe from the Dell restaurant is now adult sized and spends much of its time fishing alone, though it's not fully independent yet.

A Moorhen led three chicks down the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace, a secluded spot because a row of planters by the railings screens the diners from the birds.

The Moorhen in the Dell, which recently had a companion, was alone again, and was under the small waterfall. Since it lost its mate several years ago it really seems to want to be single.

The two Mute cygnets from the nest in reeds by the lake outflow were out with their parents.

A fox on the lawn around the Henry Moore sculpture was joined by a cub.

A Speckled Wood butterfly rested on a fallen leaf by the Dell.

Small Copper butterfly

The Little Owls at the Serpentine Gallery were calling to each other in the plane tree, but I could only find the male. It's a very large leafy tree and easy to hide in.

As usual, the Jays demanded peanuts all the way to the bridge and along to the Vista.

A Jackdaw perched on the fallen tree at Peter Pan.

A Blue Tit in the Rose Garden was impatient at being photographed ...

...and so was a Great Tit at Mount Gate.

The young Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Dell restaurant terrace will come right up to you and run almost under your feet.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull admired his reflection at Fisherman's Keep.

The single young Great Crested Grebe on the Serpentine was looking for small fish and water creatures in the shallow water at the edge.

One of the two from the east end of the island was given quite a large fish ...

... but is now big enough to deal with it.

Two of the chicks from the Long Water were on the Serpentine side of the bridge ...

... while the third was preening with its father on the other side.

The Little Grebe chicks were by themselves on the east side of the Long Water. It looks as if they are fending for themselves now.

The lone cygnet on the Long Water was at the Vista with the gang of adults and seemed to be tolerated by them, but again there was no sign of its parents. 

A Red-Crested Pochard drake at Peter Pan was beginning to change into his breeding plumage ...

... and a Shoveller drake was getting his green head.

A Small Copper butterfly fed on vervain and daisies in a planter in the Italian Garden.

There was a hoverfly on a convolvulus in the same planter, I think Eupeodes luniger but there are several similar species.

Confident young Robin

The young Robin in the Rose Garden has become a regular customer for pine nuts ...

... along with the Robin at the bridge ...

... and two in the Flower Walk. The Robins at Mount Gate aren't seen very often, but probably when the weather gets colder they will start turning up.

A Blue Tit in the Dell ate a pine nut ...

... and a Coal Tit waited for one in the corkscrew hazel bush.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery seems to have abandoned the branch in the plane tree where it was easy to find him, and now there has to be a considerable search to glimpse him among the leaves.

The young Pied Wagtail was back at the Dell restaurant hunting insects in the debris at the edge.

The oldest Great Crested Grebe chick on the lake, a single survivor from the nest at the restaurant, is now a teenager with the beginnings of a crest. It's diving with its parents, and also trying to fish on its own. It doesn't matter if it's not catching much yet, as its parents are still feeding it. What matters is acquiring vital skills for when it becomes independent.

The three Little Grebe chicks have reached the same stage in a fraction of the time. They grow up much faster than their larger relatives. They were fishing under the bridge.

The area around the bridge seems to be one of the best fishing spots, and is also used by the Great Crested Grebes from the Long Water, here seen in the reflection of the stonework.

The number of Cormorants is building up to its autumn peak, and they are occupying all the posts at both ends of the Serpentine island.

The Mute Swan situation on the Long Water remains unclear. There is a crowd around the Vista, but no sign of the former boss pair trying to sort them out. Indeed the pair seem to have merged into the mob. I last saw the female 4DTT sveral days ago, and I haven't seen her mate 4HDW since the incursion started. Their lone cygnet remained unattended near the Italian Garden.

The Black Swan was preening at the Vista, but quickly stopped and came over for some sunflower hearts.

A Mandarin at Peter Pan was evidently an adult female, judging by her very long wings.

The Egyptian family on the south side of the Serpentine are down to three goslings, which is sad but not unexpected on the dangerous lake.

The paired winged seeds of a sycamore provided a snack for a squirrel in the Dell.

A Common Carder bee browsed in the patch of lavender at the corner.

A male Migrant Hawker dragonfly posed perfectly in the reeds by the Diana fountain.