The unfaithful swan

I wasn't expecting to see the Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery when I went out, as it had only just stopped raining. But there she was, tucked into a crevice in the lime tree and quite hard to see. When I went back later she had come out.

She passed the time by preening while she waited for the park to close and the people to go away so that she could start hunting.

Rose-Ringed Parakeets perched on a treetop by the Buck Hill shelter, absurdly conspicuous with no green leaves to hide them. When we had the Tawny Owl pair in Kensington Gardens and they were feeding their owlets, they used to hunt in the daytime. They would wait in a tree taller than the tree with the parakeets in the top, and when one wasn't paying attention they would sail out and pick it off. The parakeets have also been predated by Sparrowhawks, Peregrines, and even Hobbies which are no larger than them, but none of that kept them from multiplying rapidly.

A parakeet hanging a a yew tree at the bridge had taken four fruits. It chewed them briefly to get a bit of sweet juice, then dropped them. The ground under the tree was littered with fallen fruit and twigs the destructive birds had ripped off.

The female Chaffinch in the same tree was not amused ...

... and a Coal Tit had taken refuge in a bush.

A Blue Tit looked out from the yew in the Dell.

The Green Woodpeckers by the Serpentine Gallery haven't been much in evidence since they finished bringing up their young, but today one of them was looking for insects near the Queen's Temple. There is a clump of American oaks at the bottom of the hill where they perch, and they will be visible when the leaves fall off.

A Jackdaw requested a peanut on the bridge parapet ...

... and so did another on a post at Fisherman's Keep.

A flock of at least thirty flew over the Long Water. Their numbers are steadily increasing. Oddly, I've never seen a young one, while the young of the other three corvid species are quite visible.

A Common Gull preened on one of the plastic buoys surrounding the Lido swimming area.

There were two on the posts at Peter Pan.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull looked down from the head of the Big Bird statue. Every day sees more dark feathers on his head, and he will soon be in full breeding plumage while the others have barely begun to change.

The Cormorant that stayed under the Italian Garden has finally left, leaving the area clear for a Great Crested Grebe to fish. They will take quite small fish that the Cormorants ignored.

The Black Swan made another foray on to the Long Water unopposed and came back under the bridge in good order.

Thanks to news from Jenna we know why: the male Mute Swan 4HDW who was the new boss of the lake has done a runner. He was seen on the Round Pond, and now it seems that he has gone away entirely.

His deserted mate 4GIQ was at the Vista  with their teenager 4HTH. A male swan, 4GIC, was hanging around nearby till the teenager chased him off, not liking strange males haging around its mother.

It takes a long time for Tufted drakes to get the pure white sides of their breeding plumage. This one under the bridge was looking very smart in his new feathers.

Green Woodpecker by the Serpentine

A Green Woodpecker dug for larvae and worms in the scrubby enclosure at the east end of the Serpentine, where there is a monument to Queen Caroline for whose amusement the Serpentine was made between 1727 and 1731.

A Carrion Crow on a tree stump by the Dell pecked at a bone, the lower jaw of a squirrel or a large rat.

A Grey Wagtail hunted for insects on the small waterfall in the Dell stream.

This is the Coal Tit that comes to my hand at the southwest corner of the bridge. Its mate hasn't plucked up courage yet, but will fly down to the railings to take pine nuts ...

... though it's facing opposition from the aggressive Robin.

On the other side of the path a Goldcrest jumped around in a yew tree.

The Jays followed me all the way from the Flower Walk ...

... to the Vista.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery sheltered between two thick branches from the biting east wind.

A Grey Heron was fishing in the Dell stream.

The single Moorhen in the Dell, which lost its mate to a fox several years ago, has never made more than a brief relationship with any other Moorhen. But here it is friends, for the moment at least, with a young one hatched this year and still not quite adult in appearance.

These two Moorhens eating water plants at the Triangle are parent and offspring.

The two young Mute Swans on the Serpentine are no longer following their parents around. They barged into a crowd of geese eating some oatmeal that someone had thrown to them.

The Black Swan was by the bridge, and came over for his daily treat of sunflower hearts.

Greylag Geese chewed the bark off a willow twig. The bark contains salicylic acid, the active principle of aspirin, but probably they were not self-medicating but just liked the taste.

These are the three young Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine, with the undersized one on the right. It's still smaller than them and will be a small adult, but it's no longer a stunted little thing.

A single Buff-Tailed Bumblebee in the Rose Garden was clinging on to a baby sage plant. It was sluggish in the chill, but at least it was next to a source of nectar to keep it going.

Usually only young queen bumblebees survive the winter, but in sheltered places with year-round flowers such as the Rose Garden a few others may get through. I've seen normal-sized Buff-Tails, not the big queens, here in December, January and February.

The biggest tree in the park

Autumn colours in the Rose Garden: the gigantic Caucasian elm towers over a fairly large sweetgum.

On the freshly reseeded lawn below a mob of Feral Pigeons were doing their best to frustrate the intentions of the gardeners.

A Blue Tit has turned up here, slightly relieving the sad lack of small birds in a place that was once teeming with them. It seemed to know me and came to my hand, so it's probably from the Dell ...

... where the pair of Coal Tits were in a yew tree. They have a choice of two yews and may be found in either.

The pair at the southwest corner of the bridge also have two large yew trees, safe and sheltering evergreens to pass the winter in.

The Robin was ticking on the other side of the path ...

... and the one in the Flower Walk was also waiting for pine nuts.

Two of the four local Jays perched in a tree by the Vista. There are a pair and their two young ones from this year, now completely adult in appearance.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery came out in the afternoon. It's always the same lime tree but she chooses many different places in it and you often have to spend some time finding her.

A Herring Gull at the Lido had a thorough rinse and flap.

The Czech Black-Headed Gull looked around the large area he dominates at the east end of the Serpentine, then flew down and patrolled the shore.

The dominant gull on the landing stage at the other end of the lake is well on his way to getting a dark brown head.

The teenage Great Crested Grebe which flew into the park from outside remains at the north end of the Long Water and takes no notice of the other grebes. It won't be looking for a mate till next year.

The single young Little Grebe on the Round Pond may be the only survivor of this year's brood on the Long Water ...

... and this adult sometimes seen going to the Serpentine island is evidently one of its parents. But it's very hard to count Little Grebes as they lurk under bushes, and there are probably more than you think.

The Mute Swan family on the Long Water saw someone with a hopeful-looking carrier bag and hurried over to beg. They were disappointed as it contained a pair of trainers.

The little young Egyptian Goose has had a late growth spurt and is now not much smaller than its siblings. It's in the middle here, with its mother on the left.

Goldcrest by the bridge

A Goldcrest flitted about in the yew tree at the southwest corner of the bridge ...

... where the Robin was waiting across the path.

Both the Coal Tits came out on the upper level by the roadway.

On the other side of the bridge a Wood Pigeon was eating arbutus fruit.

Of course the Jays were here, as insistent as ever.

The Jackdaws along the shore of the Serpentine are much more polite in their requests, and never a nuisance.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in her lime tree, more visible than usual.

As the leaves turn brown and fall the Rose-Ringed Parakeets, well camouflaged in summer, become more conspicuous. Their predators include Sparrowhawks, Peregrines, Tawny Owls and even in summer Hobbies which are about the same size as them.

A Common Gull perched on a sign by the Dell restaurant ...

... and the Czech Black-Headed Gull was on his favourite post on the other side of the lake. Unlike the other dominant Black-Headed Gull at the other end of the Serpentine, he is only just beginning to get his dark head.

The last Cormorant on the Long Water was still fishing under the Italian Garden. I watched it for some time and it didn't catch anything.

The Great Crested Grebes are content with smaller fish, of which there is no shortage. One of the young ones at the bridge rested quitely beside its mother.

The baskets of water plants at the Triangle provide food for Mute Swans, Moorhens and Canada Geese. 

The tall plant that seems to attract most interest is Gypsywort, so called because in the past travellers used to dye their skin brown with it to make themselves look like real Romany. Its botanical name Lycopus ('wolf's foot') europaeus seems inexplicable, as the leaves don't look in the least like a wolf's foot.

The Egyptian Goose pair at the Henry Moore sculpture were joined by a Magpie, and hostile glances were exchanged.

The fox by the Vista trotted out to collect some peanuts.

A tough Buff-Tailed Bumblebee in the Rose Garden resisted the increasing cold and was punching holes in baby sage flowers.