Works and days

The boss Mute Swan and 4DTT had a post-mating display on the Long Water. She still hasn't shown any interest in the nesting island, but no doubt the boss will demonstrate its usefulness to her by the usual ritual of ripping up plants and throwing them about.

The Black Swan has hijacked 4GIQ from her rightful mate again, and was with her at the landing stage. She really does follow him freely, which is not the way for a supposedly faithful swan to behave.

The lone teenager was with his parents again at the east end of the Serpentine, still not going near any other swans though the boss's six teenagers are now completely integrated into the society on the lake.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes displayed at the west end of the island.

In the tree above the nesting pair of Grey Herons were changing places. They take it in turns to sit on the eggs.

Pigeon Eater now has the pure white head of his breeding plumage and looks very smart.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull had been pushed off the head of the Big Bird statue by a Carrion Crow, which was clearly pleased with itself.

A crow in the wreckage of the Wasteland pulled up a bit of dead turf to see if there were any worms underneath.

There are still no interesting visitors here, but there's plenty of time.

A Blue Tit perched in an osmanthus bush in the Rose Garden ...

... and another was looking expectant on a bench.

Both Coal Tits were waiting in a rose bush ...

... and the pair in the Dell were chasing each other through the big yew tree.

The female Robin at Mount Gate came out on the railings.

This is the mate of the familiar Robin by the Buck Hill shelter, still shy and difficult to feed.

It doesn't take much to start Feral Pigeons gathering into a frantic mob. Wood Pigeons are fewer and slower, and you can see that what attracted both is breadcrumbs that someone threw down.

The familiar Pied Wagtail hasn't been visible for a while, so it was good to see her back hunting on the edge of the lake by the boathouses.

The broken water pipe in the Italian Garden has been repaired in just two days ...

... but work on the smashed parapet of the bridge has only just got to the stage of lifting the first stone 25 months after the accident.

Apparently the delay was caused by problems with insurance, though I don't know the details. You would suppose that the driver's insurance company would be liable for damage caused by him, and that they would have fought tooth and nail against having to pay millions for major repairs to a historic structure.

The Black Swan gets seriously annoying

Jackdaws are cropping up all over the park. This one was by the Serpentine Gallery ...

... and there were four in a tree by the Buck Hill shelter.

It's good to see that they have succeeded so well after their return to the park, which happened only ten years ago. The original colony left in 1968 when the Dutch elm disease wiped out all the elms which were their preferred nesting places, and they moved to Bayswater where they nested on roofs.

A Magpie waited in an alder near the Italian Garden.

Ahmet Amerikali found a Cetti's Warbler in the bushes east of the Lido.

A Great Tit perched in the Japanese crabapple tree in the Triangle next to the bridge.

A Blue Tit looked out from the corkscrew hazel in the Dell.

Coal Tits appeared in a cedar outside the north gate of the Rose Garden ...

... and by Temple Gate.

The male Robin at Mount Gate sang in a bush, then flew over to join his mate and collect pine nuts. They seem quite easy together now, but not yet flirtatious.

In the Italian Garden a teenage Moorhen preened on a disused Coot nest, but was turfed off by a parent that wanted the place for itself.

A Cormorant flew down the Long Water.

The Grey Herons sitting in the west nest ...

... and the upper nest were in place, and things seem to be going smoothly.

Ian Young found the Black Swan annoying the female Mute 4FUF at the Triangle. He really is getting unbearable.

After she indignantly left and went into the water he followed her all over the lake. She is the swan that was on the Long Water with him before the boss swan chased them both off. Meanwhile his previous reluctant girlfriend, 4GIQ, has returned to her Mute mate. He never seemed to be able to shoo the Black Swan when this aggressive bird was butting in, probably because he was afraid of it.

The boss swan and his new mate were feeding peacefully together by the nesting island.

Near the Lido a male Egyptian Goose tried to mate but fell off. A second try succeeded. The female was quite tolerant of his clumsiness. (Sorry about the soundtrack. The rubbish lorry arrived while I was filming.)

Egyptian goslings are bad at following their mother, and have to be constantly called to keep them in line.

The pipe feeding the lake from the borehole beside the Italian Garden has burst. The men replacing it said that the cause was a water surge from the borehole, and that modern polythene pipes weren't up to dealing with that kind of pressure. They agreed that the original massive Victorian cast iron pipes would have stood it.

Two sitting herons

A Grey Heron was definitely sitting in the nest at the west end of the Serpentine island. It was only visible from one place, screened by branches.

The heron in the upper nest was still there, even harder to see. It seems to be safe to say that we now have two nests on the go, later than in the last breeding season which started five weeks earlier.

The boss Mute Swan was on the Long Water near the bridge, keeping an eye out for intruders -- though these would have to fly in, as the pontoon people haven't sorted out the gap under the bridge. Two swans did fly over the bridge from the Serpentine, but they kept going and turned left up the Vista to go to the Round Pond.

His mate was in her usual area near the Italian Garden.

On the Serpentine side of the bridge by the Triangle the Black Swan had chased another on to the path and was following her along. She turned out to the 4FUF, who had been on the Long Water earlier. Both of these had been evicted by the boss.

The Egyptian Goose near the boat hire building was sheltering goslings, but they are down to four now as the ruthless predation continues

A Song Thrush in a treetop by the allotment sang against a background of traffic noise from the West Carriage Drive.

Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits and a Chaffinch thronged trees in the Rose Garden clamouring for pine nuts.

A Coal Tit perched in the cercis bush.

The tits were even more insistent in a hazel bush in the Flower Walk ...

... and the Coal Tit pair followed me for the whole length of the path. Here is one in the top of the corkscrew hazel bush.

Several Blue Tits were waiting at Mount Gate ...

... and in a budding camellia behind the Albert Memorial.

Long-Tailed Tits bounced through the bushes beside the Lido restaurant.

The Robin of the day is the one at the southwest corner of the bridge.

I looked for Redwings on the Parade Ground and saw some flashes of red under a distant tree, but it turned out to be a pair of Robins.

A Carrion Crow investigated a puddle left by last night's rain, and found a small larva.

Work on the bridge has got to the stage of repairing the broken parapet, and a strong gantry has been erected to lift heavy stones. It has taken 25 months to reach this point.

Swans reunited at last

The boss Mute Swan, separated from his new mate by the pontoon blocking the bridge, finally remembered what his wings are for and flew over the bridge on to the Long Water. The pair were ecstatic at being reunited.

But unfortunately the Black Swan had also flown over the bridge and was determined to spoil their party.

The boss escorted him off the premises, quite gently but without allowing any opposition.

A Great Crested Grebe watched the manoeuvres with mild interest.

That was not the end of the story, because as I looked through the bushes from the other side of the lake I saw the Black Swan creeping back. And an hour later he was on the Serpentine, no doubt having been chased properly off the the Long Water by the furious boss. He was at the landing stage with his uncertain girlfriend 4GIQ and another male, as the dominant Black-Headed Gull flew overhead, annoyed by the intrusion.

The Black Swan was clearly in a foul temper, and chased the male off to relieve his feelings.

The nesting basket at the Triangle was occupied by the female 4GZF, who was looking very depressed. She has just lost her mate 4GIS, apparently from boutulism.

It seems odd that there is an outbreak of Clostridium botulinum on the lake, as this normally happens only in hot weather. Waterfowl are fairly tolerant of it, as it's endemic on lake borders, but this seems to be an unusually hardy and virulent strain and several birds have died.

A pair of Egyptian Geese across the Serpentine Road from the boat hire building had five goslings, down from six yesterday. It's a dangerous place full of Herring Gulls and Carrion Crows.

The single Egyptian teenager was on the electric boat charging platform, surrounded by bizarre blue plastic mouldings. It seems to be very accident-prone and has another injury, this time to its right foot which is swollen. But nothing seems to be broken and it can walk, though it's limping.

A Great Crested Grebe dashed around under water at Fisherman's Keep.

The Grey Heron pair on the nest at the west end of the island were hunched up against a chilly day.

The heron on the upper nest had stood up to rearrange the twigs and make its bed more comfortable.

A Green Woodpecker on Buck Hill preened on a tree trunk. As a fire engine passed it called, replying not to the siren but to another Green Woodpecker which you can just hear in the distance.

In the Rose Garden a large crowd of Great Tits ...

... and Blue Tits ...

... and the pair of Coal Tits were waiting on a small hawthorn tree.

Both the Robins at Mount Gate came out together, now already on friendly terms. It was dark in the bushes and I only got a grainy picture of the male.

The two at the Buck Hill shelter also came out, but they are far from reunited and were chasing each other.

A fox rested on a dead tree across the lake from Peter Pan.