What no storm?

The promised storm was an anticlimax. The morning was flat calm with drizzle and occasional watery sunshine, and there were spells of rain in the afternoon. The Little Owl at the Serpentine was out in her lime tree, slightly flecked with raindrops and refusing to look down for her picture.

People have asked where the male owl is. Males are more mobile than females, and he may be anywhere in the area. It would be impossible to find him unless he was heard calling.

As well as the relentless Jays, Magpies are following me around demanding peanuts. This one was near the owl tree ...

... and this one on the other side of the Long Water in the red-leafed cherry tree by the bridge.

A Jackdaw at the Triangle waited on a branch covered in bright green lichen.

Several more appeared along the edge of the Serpentine. The number of Jackdaws in the park is definitely going up.

The yew in the Dell still has a lot of fruit, and there were Rose-Ringed Parakeets all over it.

They didn't stop the Coal Tits from coming out for pine nuts.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge looked up in annoyance at a Jay on a branch above.

The one at the Lido restaurant was on the railings singing quietly in the rain.

A Grey Wagtail trotted along the edge.

The Grey Heron in the Italian Garden hadn't been seen for some time, but it was back today. Probably the Cormorants have had most of the medium-sized fish in the pools.

The Great Crested Grebes who nested on the north side of the island are now spending much of their time in the narrow strip of water between the island and the shore. The chicks are now diving after their parents, learning to fish. One was given a fish by a parent and played with it for a moment before eating it.

Two teenagers were on the Long Water side of the bridge with a parent ...

... and one was in the reeds at the north end.

The Mute Swans 4HDW and 4DTT, and their cygnet 4HTH, now have full possession of the Long Water and there were no other swans there today. The gravel strip has been partly cleared of scrub, and they were on it preening along with a pair of Canada Geese and two Shoveller drakes.

There were quite a lot of Red-Crested Pochard drakes, now in full breeding plumage, but absolutely no females. They seem to have a sex ratio even more skewed than that of Common Pochards, which a survey a few years ago estimated at 8:1.

Sunshine before the storm

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits ...

... with Blue Tits tagging along passed through the trees by the bridge.

The Robin in the Flower Walk was waiting in a bush.

... and the one at Mount Gate struck a grand attitude.

Across the path a male Rose-Ringed Parakeet preened his mate on the railings. She shooed off another female: two's company.

When the Peregrines are away, Carrion Crows like to fly around the top of the barracks tower and perch on the complicated antennas. The wind creates amusing updraughts for them to play in.

A Jay at the Vista ...

... and a Jackdaw near the Italian Garden were expecting their daily peanuts.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in her usual lime tree, in a different place so that there was a lot of dodging around to get a picture.

A Great Crested Grebe and a teenager were under the willow at the bridge.

I though that this family from the poplar on the Long Water had only two teenagers, but three were visible today. They're moving around a lot which makes them hard to count. Here is another of them fishing by a reed bed under the Italian Garden.

The Black Swan was in a belligent mood chasing Mute Swans by the bridge.

Pochards collected under a tree by the Vista ...

.... where Shoveller drakes and females circled around each other. Each one's wake brings up little water creatures for the other to filter out with the bristles inside its large bill.

Others sat out the dance on the fallen poplar at Peter Pan.

The fox at the Vista stared back at the admiring onlookers. I gave it some shelled peanuts as a modelling fee.

A very young squirrel, hardly more than a baby, ate the fallen fruit under a yew tree in the Dell.

Colder weather has reduced insect activity, but in today's sunshine there were still some Honeybees on the Michaelmas daisies in the Rose Garden, and a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee feeding on arbutus flowers.

By the way, in response to recent comments about different species of arbutus, I looked at three trees and I think they're all the same, with smooth cinnamon-coloured bark. The oldest tree, near the bridge, looks greyer and rougher but that seems to be the effect of age, and the younger branches are like those of the other trees.

Hardy Little Owl

On a chilly drizzly day with a keen wind it was a pleasant surprise to find the Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery out in her usual lime tree.

It's impossible to walk through this area without being assailed by hungry Jays. Here are some under the bridge ...

... on the parapet ...

... and at Mount Gate in the dead leaves of what I think is a cornel cherry.

A Carrion Crow waited by a spiky agave in an urn in the Italian Garden.

'Don't you dare obey this sign.'

Two Blue Tits came out at the southwest corner of the bridge, one keen to come to my hand and this one lurking shyly in the bushes. It did eventually pluck up courage and take a pine nut.

A Robin perched on a yew hedge in the Flower Walk ...

... and the one at the Lido restaurant was on the edge of the terrace.

At the other end of the terrace a Grey Wagtail trotted along.

Pigeon Eater was keeping dry on a deserted table under the canopy of the Dell restaurant.

The two young Great Crested Grebes from the Long Water were at the bridge with their father, who was supervising their attempts at fishing.

They were diving busily ...

... and shooting around the edges of the wire baskets.

A group of Mute Swans browsed on the reeds at the edge of the Long Water, a tough diet. But they couldn't move up to the Vista to crop the grass, as 4HDW and 4DTT were waiting there to chase them away.

The Egyptian Geese in the Italian Garden didn't show any interest in the vervain growing on the edge of the pavement when it was green and flowering, but now that it's dead they seem to like it. Vervain is said to relieve anxiety and insomnia and aid digestion. But perhaps the main incentive was that a gardener was clearing away these unauthorised plants and they wanted to make the most of them before they were all gone.

The two dark Mallard drakes, presumably brothers, are long-term residents of the lake. Only one of them has a mate. The pair were by the reeds east of the Lido.

Woodpeckers on a wet day

A Green Woodpecker by the south shore of the Serpentine searched for worms brought up by the rain.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker probed the bark of a tree at the northwest corner of the bridge ...

... where a pair of Great Tits were waiting for service in an oak.

The pair of Coal Tits at the Serpentine Gallery picked me up when I was looking for the owl, who was sensibly staying in her hole to keep dry, and followed me to the bridge.

The female Coal Tit in the Dell could be seen in the yew.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge emerged from the shelter of the bramble patch.

A brief glimpse of a Wren, a Chiffchaff, and another Wren in various parts of the park.

Pigeon Eater took advantage of the rain to preen, which is more effective with slightly damp feathers.

A Grey Heron was fishing from the swan nesting island at the top of the Long Water ...

... where one of the young Great Crested Grebes was looking for fish among the reeds.

The other of the two was fishing by the bridge.

Its father was nearby under the bridge and caught a perch, but despite his offspring's entreaties ate it himself, as if to say 'You're old enough to catch your own fish now.'

The Egyptian Goose pair from the Italian Garden were drinking from a puddle, which they and most birds prefer to the borehole water in the lake.

The mother at the Diana fountain was sheltering her goslings. Two came out ...

... so she stood, showing that she still has five of her original seven after losing one to a Herring Gull yesterday.

Although there are plenty of Shovellers on the Long Water there is just one drake on the Serpentine, which was preening at Fisherman's Keep. There was a flash of its bright green secondary feathers.

The Wollemi pine in the Dell has produced two saplings from fallen cones, which have been carefully staked. There are dead leaves on both these and the parent tree, and it seems that the English climate doesn't suit this rare Australian species. The first Wollemi pine planted here died, and this one is a replacement.

The fruit in the arbutus tree at the southeast corner of the bridge is ripening prettily. It's also known as the Strawberry Tree: the fruit doesn't look particularly like strawberries but it does have an insipid strawberry-like taste. The birds are not particularly keen on it. Humans sometimes make it into an uninteresting jam. Its botanical name, Arbutus unedo ('eat once'), also conveys a lack of enthisiasm.