Mediterranean Gull on the Serpentine

Bill Haines found a first-winter Mediterranean Gull on the Serpentine. I went looking for it with binoculars and eventually found it too far away for a photograph, but fortunately Bill saw it closer and provided a good picture.

They're hard to spot among the hundreds of Black-Headed Gulls that come to the lake for the winter. One of these was playing with a plane leaf ...

... and the dominant one from the landing stage stood on the Big Bird statue.

The grooved planks on the boat hire platform collect bird droppings when these are swept up, and these attract insects, so it's a good hunting ground for a Pied Wagtail.

More Jays are appearing, and two followed me down the east side of the Long Water demanding peanuts.

Ahmet Amerikali found a Song Thrush by the southwest corner of the bridge, where a pair bred earlier this year.

Two Coal Tits aprrived, one in the corkscrew hazel in the Dell ...

... and the other in the little hawthorn in the Rose Garden ....

... where the usual Robin was also waiting.

The male Chaffinch perched in a rose bush.

The Robin at Mount Gate came out when called, in front of an unseasonably blossoming hypericum.

A Grey Heron by one of the boathouses waited for a fish to emerge from under the wall ...

... and another looked out over the Long Water from a dead tree.

A Great Crested Grebe fishing along the edge of the Serpentine was mildly curious. The shore is another world for them, seen but never visited. 

A pair of Gadwalls browsed in the shallows.

A band of Mallards from the Vista visited an oak tree to look for insects and worms in the fallen leaves.

A single Little Japanese Umbrella mushroom emerged in the grass by the Serpentine Gallery. These tiny frail things last less than a day, wilting and drooping by evening.

A very quiet song

A Song Thrush sang very quietly to itself beside the Long Water. On a drizzly day it was easy to find worms and there were berries on the trees, so it was happy enough. At the end of the clip a passing Blackbird called ...

... as it flew into a hawthorn tree to eat the fruit.

A young Wood Pigeon had unwisely chosen a variegated holly tree with fewer berries than the ordinary green kind, and was having to work hard for its food.

Feral Pigeons sheltered from the rain under the cornice of the Serpentine bridge and took the opportunity to peck up grit from the sandstone.

A Great Tit in the Flower Walk perched in unseasonable viburnum blossom.

A Coal Tit came out of the bushes to take a pine nut.

Another in in the Dell clung to a yew twig ...

... while a Blue Tit waited in a bush.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge collected several pine nuts in the intervals of chasing the tits around.

A Carrion Crow showed the way to Peter Pan.

Jays are appearing again after their usual absence in autumn while they gather acorns. One was near the Physical Energy statue ...

... and another was rummaging in fallen leaves by the leaf yard.

The lack of people and dogs on a wet day allowed Canada Geese to graze unmolested on the lawn east of the Triangle.

The single teenage Mute Swan on the Serpentine was mooching around peacefully ...

... as the killer swan and his family were on the Long Water.

The Shovellers seem to have left the park apart from a single drake on the far side of the Vista.

A plastic fox has been installed on the jetty at the Lido to keep away the Egyptian Geese. However, it has been chained up to stop people from stealing it, which seriously reduces any fear it might inspire.

Woodpeckers in the Dell

A pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker flew into a Dawn Redwood tree in the Dell. This species of tree, Metasequoia glyptoistroboides, was known only from fossils and believed to be extinct until one was discovered growing in China in 1941. After the war seeds were sent to botanic gardens around the world, and there are three trees in Hyde Park, now grown very tall.

The female flew away, but I got some film of the male climbing on the branches. You can tell he's male because he has a red patch on the back of his head.

One of the Coal Tit pair ...

... and a Blue Tit appeared in the big yew on the other side of the Dell.

Only two of the regular Robins could be seen, the one in the Rose Garden ...

... and the one at the southwest corner of the bridge.

Ahmet Amerikali got a picture of the Cetti's Warbler which is often here, though usually out of sight in the bushes ...

... and a Wren in the same place.

He also got a shot of the Kingfisher on the Long Water. I arrived just too late to see it. I have been having very bad luck with this bird.

A female Blackbird perched in a holly tree. We see sadly few Blackbirds now.

A Carrion Crow was having a wash in the Long Water, standing on a submerged branch.

A Jackdaw beside the Serpentine pecked at a branch, maybe trying to extract an insect from under the bark.

The Grey Wagtail hunted along the edge.

A Grey Heron has reoccupied the nest at the east end of the island, a successful breeding place which produced two broods earlier this year.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull on the landing stage is getting his black head already, months ahead of the others. I think he is full of male hormones which account for both this and his aggressive behaviour.

A pair of Coots preened on the edge of the Serpentine.

A pair of Egyptian Geese shouted at the others, then went for a drink in a puddle. The female quacks, the male makes a hoarse panting noise.

The big blond male often seen on the south shore was having a flap.

First returning Fieldfare at Rainham Marshes

A Coal Tit in the Flower Walk looked out from the leaves of a dogwood bush.

The one in the Dell was in its usual yew tree, a safe and sheltered place for a very small bird.

The female Chaffinches in the Flower Walk ...

... and the Rose Garden also appeared. Unlike the males, they don't catch thrown pine nuts in the air and have to fed on the ground, which is difficult if there are pigeons about.

There were eager looks from the Robins at the southwest corner of the bridge ...

... and Mount Gate.

Starlings at the Dell restaurant chattered as they waited for a chance to grab scraps off a table.

A Magpie in the Dell showed off the iridescence on its wings and tail.

Tom found a Fieldfare in the top of a hawthorn at Rainham Marshes, so it's time to start looking out for winter migrant thrushes.

He also got unusual pictures of Bearded Tits flying high over the reeds.

The tunnel under the north side of the Serpentine bridge is now closed while the stonework is repaired, so the local Grey Heron will have less opportunity to beg off passers by. A Carrion Crow eyed it, plotting mischief.

Pigeon Eater lunged at a Feral Pigeon, but it saw him in time.

A Mute Swan bit experimentally at a small potato someone had put on the edge, but abandoned it. People have the strangest ideas about what to feed birds.

A Black-Headed Gull examined the potato next and also rejected it.

The young Great Crested Grebe at the east end of the Serpentine was fishing out in the open water. It caught a fish, but swallowed it before I could get the camera on it. It was an encouraging sight anyway.

Pairs of Egyptian and Greylag Geese called routinely to each other as they went about their business. Both would make far more noise if excited. They are the loudest creatures in the park.

Ahmet Amerikali was at Southwark Park , where he got a picture of one of the Little Grebes ...

... and an action shot of a Mallard drake taking off.