A tricky task

The male Great Crested Grebe from the nest at the Dell restaurant was carrying the three chicks near the shore at Fisherman's Keep.

His mate arrived with a small fish. Anyone who has tried to feed a baby with a spoon will recognise the difficulty she was having in trying to get one of her chicks to swallow it.

The grebes at the island were staying together at their nest and fussing over the eggs. It's quite likely a sign that they are about to hatch, so this place needs watching.

The teenager was preening at the Triangle. Although it must have flown in with its parents, it always seems to be by itself.

There was a brisk west wind, and the Cormorants at the island were sitting down on their posts to avoid being buffeted.

The breeding success of the Grey Herons on the island has led to young birds being dotted all round the lake. These three on a fallen tree at the Vista all look similar, and are probably siblings from one of this year's earlier nests.

The heron at the Lido restaurant was prowling up and down the edge looking over the tops of the waterside plants, hoping that someone on the terrace would throw it a titbit. It must be getting some or it wouldn't keep doing it.

A male Pied Wagtail sprinted along the edge by the Dell restaurant.

The male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in an awkward place in a lime tree and I couldn't get a clear view.

A Jay in the Flower Walk was expecting prompt service.

Long-Tailed Tits hunted through the trees.

The butterflies in the Rose Garden were staying low to get out of the wind. A Painted Lady ...

... and a Red Admiral fed on purslane in the herbaceous border.

A Honeybee browsed on milkweed flowers.

Ahmet Amerikali was at Rainham Marshes and sent four interesting pictures. A Reed Warbler fed a chick.

This is a young male Bearded Tit which hasn't yet grown its droopy black moustache.

A Great Egret stalked through the mud. People are calling them Great White Egrets now, but there is nothing remarkable in an egret being white and I think this is the influence of the Great White Shark in Jaws.

A male Norfolk Hawker dragonfly, a species which is fairly common at Rainham but I've never seen in the park.

A surprise visit

The male Great Crested Grebe from the nest at the Dell restaurant unexpectedly surfaced next to his mate, bringing a small fish for one of the chicks.

The nest on the island is still quiet.

A Coot brought an awkwardly long reed stem to the nest in the water lilies in the Italian Garden. It had already tried and failed to drag in the large black stick.

The Mute Swans with three cygnets rested behind the railings at one of the boathouses, a safe place where they couldn't be harassed by dogs.

The seven Tufted ducklings on the Serpentine were constantly active, going up and down like yo-yos.

A young Grey Heron on the edge of the Serpentine got bored with standing still, and had a splash and a shake.

The three at the east end of the island were down from the nest. At the left one was flying over the boats.

Another young heron stood on the Dell restaurant roof, where it had just knocked another off.

The chicks in the top nest are becoming slightly more visible as they grow.

This young Pied Wagtail is constantly seen on the electric boat charging platform.

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker climbed a tree at the north edge of the Rose Garden.

A bronze Feral Pigeon on the Huntress fountain was reluctant to get wet, but was persuaded to have a bathe with the others.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery looked out from the lime tree.

The male, on the other lime tree, was hiding behind twigs and I couldn't get a clear shot.

A Red Admiral butterfly on a trunk by the greenhouses was harassed by a couple of Hornets, but stood up to them stubbornly for quite a while. Thanks to Duncan Campbell for this video.

However, this one in the Rose Garden was easily displaced by a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee, which advanced on it ...

... crawled underneath ...

... and shoved it away.

The Rose Garden was full of Painted Lady butterflies. Here are two on the sea lavender which is the favourite of all the insects.

Also from Duncan Campbell, a Red-Tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, on a globe thistle with a Honeybee.

Grebe chicks' first day out

The three Great Crested Grebe chicks from the nest at the Dell restaurant were being readied for their first expedition out on to the open lake. Their father was carrying two and their mother was about to collect the third.

When they arrived at the fishing place they had to be sorted on to one parent so that the other could catch fish for them.

This teenage Great Crested Grebe wasn't hatched on the lake, and must have been brought in by its parents as soon as it could fly. The geese are already choosing to breed outside, away from the danger of the Herring Gulls, but this is the first time I've seen grebes doing it.

A Moorhen chick under the Italian Garden was light enough for its enormous feet to stop it sinking into the soft mat of algae. It did need to keep moving to stay up.

The Mute Swans on the Long Water have regrown their flight feathers after moulting, and were celebrating by chasing each other about.

The Tufted Duck still had seven ducklings, now growing fast, and was leading them up the Serpentine towards the bridge.

There was one young Grey Heron in the nest at the east end of the island. Another flew in ...

... followed by the third.

A wild scene ensued.

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in an irritable mood and wouldn't pose for her portrait. She soon flew into an inaccessible part of the lime tree.

The female owlet is also shy, but stayed in the other lime for long enough to give me a disapproving stare.

This is the other parent of the young Jays that were by the gallery, even tattier than the one I photographed yesterday. Raising young really does take it out of some birds.

A Stock Dove came down from the trees to have a drink in the Serpentine.

A Painted Lady butterfly fed on a thistle at the Vista ...

... and there was a Meadow Brown on a water mint flower.

Bindweed has appeared in the Rose Garden to the annoyance of the gardeners, but the Buff-Tailed Bumblebees like it.

The giant earthenware pots at the Lido restaurant have been planted with dwarf pomegranate trees, now in flower.

The Little Grebe emerges

The Little Grebe on the Long water is often heard but seldom seen as it skulks along the edge of the lake under the bushes. Then it has to come out in the open to cross to the other side it reaches the bridge. This was shot looking down from the parapet, and I've left the traffic noise as it was so that you you can hear the bird's whinnying call.

A Great Crested Grebe hurried past while I was waiting for the Little Grebe to emerge.

The nest under the Dell restaurant balcony was a busy scene with Greylag and Egyptian Geese bustling around, but the sitting grebe was taking it easy and the three chicks were resting quietly under its wings. One put its head out to collect a small fish.

The Coots in the nest in the water lilies in the Italian Garden fountain were building it up while they looked after their two chicks.

In the next pool the Coots have torn up a lot of iris corms and heaped them up to make a large nest. It was a bad idea to remove the baskets protecting the irises, as the Coots are going to destroy the lot before long. They are quite unstoppable.

On the lake below, a Moorhen chick walked over the algae, supported by its enormous feet.

The Mute Swan pair on the Long Water brought their single surviving cygnet to Peter Pan.

The other pair on the Serpentine are doing better with three cygnets, but even they have lost two.

The Black Swan is regrowing his peculiar white flight feathers. He was dozing by the bridge, but woke up when offered some sunflower hearts.

The two Mallard ducklings on the Round Pond are large enough to be out of danger from Herring Gulls.

This young Pied Wagtail is often seen on the electric boat charging platform.

A young Blackbird came out from the bushes near the Italian Garden.

A Jackdaw waited for a peanut in a tree near the Lido.

This Robin at Mount Gate has a territory nearer the gate than the pair I usually see. Its family life is less visible, but there have been two young Robins of different ages and this must be a parent of the younger one. It's looking tatty after rearing the chick. 

The young Jays that were pestering their parents by the Serpentine Gallery have been thrown out now, and only the parents are left here. One was looking worn from the strain of bringing them up.

It was the turn of the female Little Owl to occupy the usual lime tree. She was the only one I saw today.

One more kind of butterfly in the Rose Garden, a Small Tortoiseshell. These used to be very common, but numbers have declined and I've only seen a few this year.

Hundreds of florets in the centre of a sunflower gave a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee plenty to do. It wasn't in a hurry and often paused for a rest.