The unpredictability of owls

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in his current favourite lime tree. But just when you think an owl has settled into a habit he gets tired of the place, moves to another tree, and has to be searched for again.

The male Peregrine was on the barracks, indistinct in the dust and haze and I had to adjust the picture considerably from the vague grey original.

A young Magpie probed the bark of a tree near Mount Gate.

Two Wood Pigeons drank and splashed at the top of the waterfall in the Dell.

The adult Great Tits look very tattered after the breeding season but the young ones, now more or less adult in appearance, are immaculate.

Ahmet Amerikali got a picture of a Long-Tailed Tit behind the Lido. At least one pair nests here every year.

He also photographed a young Blackcap at the southwest corner of the bridge. Its father is still singing there, hidden deep in the bushes.

Cormorants were resting on the baskets around the island. Numbers are rising as this year's young fish are now large enough to be worth catching.

The Cormorant that fishes in the Italian Garden pools was drying its wings, ignoring people passing within a couple of feet of it.

The Grey Heron was busy as usual. David Element got a fine shot of it leaping off the kerb of a pool.

The young herons from the nest at the east end of the island, now flying around freely but still returning to the nest to be fed, seem to have taken up residence on the plastic boats moored below the nest.

The Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water have retaken their nest site from Coots that occupied it. The result coulkd go either way ...

... but the pair at the island seem well settled now ...

... and the nest under the Dell restaurant balcony should be hatching in a few days.

The much used fallen tree at Peter Pan has been occupied by Canada Geese, to the annoyance of the Coots that were raising a family there.

A pair of Red-Veined Darter dragonflies at the Round Pond, photographed by David Element.

It looks as if these will become a regular breeding species in the park, but this is by no means certain. They fly in from the European mainland, easily crossing the Channel with their powerful flight. Most of them in the park are at the Round Pond, since this is visible from the air at quite a distance, but this is a bad breeding place, much too exposed. However, they have also spread down to the Long Water, where there is floating vegetation at the edge in which they can lay their eggs.

Ahmet Amerikali captured a male Lesser Emperor in flight at the Italian Garden.

With a large range of flowers to choose from in the Rose Garden, Honeybees are still going to the little clover flowers on the lawn.

Little owlet nearly loses hold

The female Little owlet in the chestnut tree by the Serpentine Gallery missed her footing in the wind, but saved herself from falling by grabbing the branch with her beak. The rotten wood broke but it was enough to get her up again.

Her father, some way off in his usual lime tree, didn't see the undignified spectacle.

A Green Woodpecker was followed up a tree tunk beside Rotten Row by a fledgling, recognisable by its speckled feathers.

They flew on to different branches.

The male Peregrine was on the barracks tower by himself, ruffled by the wind.

A Grey Heron in the Italian Garden saw a fish ...

... dived in ...

... and got it.

All three young herons were down from the nest at the east end of the island. They found the moored boats a fine adventure playground.

Two young Cormorants, still with pale fronts, wrestled with a twig. It may have been practice for courtship behaviour, or just simple play.

The three Coot chicks in the southeast pool in the Italian Garden were in a comfortable huddle with a parent. This is a second nest, not where they were hatched. Coots often make extra nests to rest in.

A Great Crested Grebe splashed down on the Long Water. It's more like a crash than a tidy touchdown.

The Mute Swan 4DVT and her three cygnets ate algae under the Dell restaurant balcony, with the grebes' nest in the background.

4DTT was under the Italian Garden with her two cygnets.

Unattached swans rested at the Triangle. They tend to collect here when they are moulting, often blocking the narrow path.

A Comma butterfly drank nectar from sea lavender flowers in the Rose Garden.

In the shade

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was staying in the shade in his usual lime tree ...

... and his son was lurking in the chestnut.

A Blackbird in the Rose Garden caught a couple of moths in a flower bed.

Two Stock Doves drinking on a fallen tree in the Long Water were joined by a third.

One of the young Grey Herons from the nest at the east end of the island came right down and explored a boat.

The tatty Black-Headed Gull at Fisherman's Keep remains alone although others are now spreading on to the Serpentine from the Long Water. From where it was it could see several, but didn't want to join them.

The Great Crested Grebes at the island are still on their unreliable nest.

The Coot at the bridge is also in an uncertain place. So far the eggs remain intact.

A pair on the other side of the bridge were feeding chicks under the willow. The view is restricted but I could see three.

I've never been able to see more than two Moorhen chicks on the fallen tree at Peter Pan despite a reliable report of three ...

... but Moorhens are very good at hiding their families. This teenager near the island popped up unexpectedly, possibly from a nest hidden under the boat hire platform.

The solitary Moorhen in the Dell lost its mate to a fox several years ago. Since then it has stayed alone apart from one short-lived flirtation.

The Black Swan, who has been by himself for several days, was back with his Mute mate 4GIQ near the bridge.

4DTT and her two cygnets crossed the Vista.

A female Emperor dragonfly was buzzed by a male Common Blue damselfly as she laid eggs on a patch of algae in the Italian Garden. Damselflies are territorial and don't like intruders, especially ones that might eat them.

A male perched on a red yucca in an urn on the parapet.

A Common Carder bee fed on an agapanthus in the Dell.

A globe thistle in the Rose Garden attracted a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee.

The joy of chocolate cake

A hot Saturday with a loud pop concert in the park is not a good time for seeing birds, but at least the male Little Owl came out in the lime tree in the afternoon.

A Carrion Crow had won a bit of chocolate cake from the café by the Italian Garden. It was with its family, but didn't offer to share it.

A young Lesser Black-Backed Gull near the Dell restaurant, smaller and darker than a Herring Gull. They have started breeding in the town now so we shall be seeing more of them soon, though they will have a lot of catching up to do with the alarmingly successful Herring Gull colony in Paddington.

The Grey Heron at the Italian Garden, fishing under the marble fountain, shook out its feathers. This is just a momentary comfort movement. The heron hasn't discovered the fishing method of the African Black Heron, which brings its open wings forward over its head to create a sunshade, luring fish into what they think are safe shadows.

The male Great Crested Grebe at the island was sitting comfortably on the newly rebuilt nest. Perhaps his mate has already started laying eggs. Grebes start sitting as soon as the first egg is laid, so the chick hatch over several days. This doesn't matter, as they can be fed on the nest by the grebe that is taking its turn on the water.

The pair that tried to nest on a dead tree on the Long Water were evicted by Coots and haven't found another site yet.

The Coot nesting on the raft at the Triangle was in that odd position again, standing over the eggs with wings lowered. Maybe it thinks they're getting overheated and need shading.

A Moorhen cooled off under the spray from the marble fountain.

The new boss Mute Swan 4HDW's mate 4DTT brought her two cygnets to the Vista to do a bit of begging.

The other mother 4DVT was by the Diana fountain landing stage, taking her three cygnets quite close to the Black Swan. He didn't react. He has lost his mojo since the cygnet died ...

... but not his appetite.  When he saw me he hurried over for some sunflower hearts.

A teenage Egyptian Goose kept cool with a splashy wash in the Serpentine. A final flap showed well developed flight feathers.

The six teenagers by the boathouse were resting on the shore with their parents.

A female Emperor dragonfly laid eggs on the algae under the Italian Garden.

A male was sparring with a Brown Hawker. This isn't a good picture, but I was pleased to get anything as Brown Hawkers are almost impossible to photograph, dashing around non-stop.

It's not just dragonflies that find the railing spikes a perfect place to perch. A Greenbottle fly was sunning itself on one near Peter Pan.

The sea lavender in the Rose Garden attracted a Small White butterfly ...

... and a tattered old Painted Lady.