Blackbird singing in winter

It's unusual to hear a Blackbird singing in midwinter. This one was too close to the busy traffic on the bridge for a good recording, but it was pleasant to hear it.

Song Thrushes, on the other hand, are happy to sing on a sunny winter day and the one by the Diana fountain could be heard hidden in the middle of a holly tree as I went home towards sunset.

Long-Tailed Tits moved down the east side of the Long Water ...

... and a Goldcrest accompanied the flock. You often find small warblers in these flocks as well as various species of tit.

A Coal Tit in the Rose Garden dashed around to avoid being photographed, but eventually paused in a rose bush for long enough to get a picture. It was handsomely rewarded with pine nuts.

There seems to be a small flock of Blue Tits permanently here, perhaps a family group. You see far more of them than in the Flower Walk or at the bridge where other tits abound.

The male Chaffinch turned up. I haven't seen his mate for a while, but she has always been shy.

The usual Robin was waiting in the usual rose bush.

So was the one at Mount Gate, which I missed yesterday because it was too busy singing.

The female Pied Wagtail was hunting at the Lido.

A Jay stared from a tree by the Italian Garden.

The Grey Herons in the middle nest on the island had a little display ...

... before mating again.

The pair in the east nest were also in place, hard to photograph directly into the low sun.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull at the landing stage looked out from the head of the Big Bird statue.

The trees around the Long Water were crowded with gulls.

A Great Crested Grebe rested near the Serpentine outflow, keeping an eye open for danger. This seems to be the only one left on the Serpentine apart from the pair which may be either side of the bridge.

A pair of Egyptian Geese poked in fallen leaves by the leaf yard. Worms and insects are a welcome addition to their diet of grass and weeds.

Red berries on the other side of the path came from a Sinking Iris, Iris foetidissima. It's too far back from the railings to check whether it lives up to its name.

Two heron nests already active

The Little Owl on Buck Hill was in the same place on the tall lime tree.

It's a slightly awkward spot to photograph, and you have to go round the tree to find a clear place with the best available light. The owl is high enough not to be worried by this and observes you with mild interest. After a few days he will get bored and stop looking.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits whizzed through the trees below.

One of the Coal Tits in the Rose Garden stayed still just long enough for a picture.

The male Chaffinch was also here, waiting on a twig for some pine nuts to be thrown on the ground.

A Wood Pigeon stared down from a tree.

The usual Robin at Mount Gate was busy singing at the back of the bushes, but its mate came out.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge is always keen to be fed.

The Song Thrush on the edge of the Diana fountain was enjoying an evening song in a tricky place to photograph.

A Jay looked expectant near the Italian Garden.

On the other side of the Garden a Carrion Crow called from the top of a horse chestnut tree. This is a pink-flowered horse chestnut, smaller and less vigorous than the white-flowered kind and with contorted twigs.

The female Pied Wagtail often seen on the edge of the Serpentine preened on a plastic buoy at the Lido.

Grey Heron pairs usually display to each other, but this one at one of the middle nests on the island wasn't wasting time in courtesies. He just flew in and jumped on his mate. She didn't seem to mind.

The nest at the east end had only one heron in it, but we know that there's a pair here and they are building. So two nests are going ahead.

Two pairs of Coots had a running fight on the Serpentine, causing agitation and chasing in the others around them.

The Moorhen in the Dell was on its favourite rock, undisturbed by Mallards. But it's alone and has been for some time after losing its mate to a fox. Other Moorhens have visited briefly and there have been mild flirtations, but none has taken.

Four Cormorants shone in the sunlight as they preened on the fallen poplar at the Peter Pan waterfront. The one on the left is young, with a white front.

The Black Swan followed 4GIQ across the Serpentine. She wasn't interested and soon went off by herself. I found him on the other side and consoled him with some sunflower seeds.

This female Tufted Duck has a broken leg that has set badly and she can't dive well. But she is staying alive and rushes about indomitably among the Mute Swans and Black-Headed Gulls.

A new Little Owl

Today brought the first sight for years of a Little Owl on Buck Hill. I had heard it calling twice and searched unsuccessfully, and today finally found it in the broken top of a branch. It's male, and male owls move around more than females so this may not be a pair's nest hole. He would be the grandson or great-grandson of the original pair that settled on Buck Hill in 2012.

Otherwise it was an ordinary day, grey and mild with occasional drizzle. It was pleasing to see the Grey Heron pair in the nest at the east end of the island well established and adding twigs to the very large structure. Last year the nesting season began at the same time and continued sporadically for five months and this pair bred here twice, fledging four young.

There was also a heron in one of the nests at the middle of the island. There is a group of nests very close together here but only space for one pair, and they may be seen in any of the nests until they actually get down to breeding.

The heron at the Lido seems to be alone, always in the same fishing spot by the new ramp.

The Lombardy poplar tree that fell down at the Peter Pan waterfront a couple of months ago is home to the small group of Cormorants remaining after the busy fishing season. They must still be catching just enough to stay on the Long Water.

A pair of Mallards found it a quiet place to preen. 

A Mallard at the boathouses had a faceoff with a Coot.

There were pairs of Gadwalls dabbling all the way along the south shore of the Serpentine.

The odd trio of a Canada Goose with Canada x Greylag hybrid mate and a spare hybrid cruised past. They are usually seen between the Triangle and the island.

This is the male of the pair of Great Crested Grebes at the bridge. They may be seen on either side of the pontoon, as they can swim under it in an instant.

A second-winter Herring Gull was not too grown up to be playing with willow leaves.

The familiar female Pied Wagtail hunted along the edge.

The male Peregrine was on and off the tower today, always by himself. I haven't seen his mate since July, and it's looking as if the fickle female has dumped him.

A Magpie looked down from an oak near the bridge.

Long-Tailed Tits were working their way along the east side of the Long Water.

This Coal Tit in the Rose Garden has developed a fine way of avoiding being photographed, shooting in unexpectedly from a distant tree to grab a pine nut and whizz back. You have to be very quick to capture it.

The Blue Tits are more accommodating.

A Robin perched on a twig by the gate.

The darkling thrush

A Song Thrush at the Diana fountain sang at dusk on a grey winter day, like the one that managed to cheer up even miserable old Thomas Hardy -- see his poem here.

But the weather was mild enough to bring the male Little Owl by the Queen's Temple to look out of the hole.

A female Blackbird flew into a hawthorn near the Italian Garden ...

... and moved to the tip of a twig to eat the remnaining fruit.

A tree beside the Serpentine was full of Starlings chattering and whistling. They flew off apparently in unison, as these birds with fantastically fast reflexes do.

A Coal Tit stared from a tree at the southwest corner of the bridge ...

... and the usual Robin was here too, looking suspiciously up at a Magpie.

By the time I got to the Rose Garden it was starting to rain, but the reliable Robin appeared in a rose bush ...

... along with several Blue Tits.

The female Pied Wagtail often seen by the Serpentine hunted insects on the boathouse roof, came down to check the kerb, and visited the electric boat charging platform.

A Carrion Crow stood on a stump planning some ghastly exploit.

The male Peregrine was alone on the tower, scratching his chin.

Pigeon Eater's mate kept his place on the roof while he was off shooing the other gulls.

Just like yesterday, there was one Grey Heron in the middle nest and another above it. They must be mates, not rivals as I thought, and their occasional lunges at each other a sign of affection.

A Great Crested Grebe was fishing under the willow near the bridge.

The single Egyptian teenager was by itself beside the new reed beds. It's beginning to get its adult face with a dark eye patch.

The young Mute Swan that had come down in the Italian Garden has managed to get out safely. -- it's not clear how. Jon saw it on the Long Water this morning, separately from the killer's family, who were still all there when I went by.