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.

Egyptian goslings on the Serpentine

A pair of Egyptians beside the Serpentine Road had six goslings. Thanks to Triss for this picture.

The Egyptians on the Mute Swan nesting basket at the Triangle seem to have claimed it as their own. They sat up and looked out warily as some Canadas approached, but these didn't try to climb on and they were able to relax.

There are three nesting baskets for swans on the Serpentine but only the one east of the Lido interests any of them, and today two pairs were trying to claim it. There was a bit of pecking but not a real fight while I was there.

I could only read one ring here, 4GIX, again one not seen on the basket till now.

The Black Swan was swaggering about on the Serpentine chasing any Mute Swans the encountered.

There is definitely a sitting Grey Heron in one of the large nests in the middle of the island. You can just see its head in this picture.

That isn't the top nest where I saw a sitting heron earlier. Efforts there seem to have faded, though today there was a single bird standing on it.

The pair at the west end of the island were together, but both were standing up.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes near the island displayed to each other, and one did the 'cat display', rushing away and puffing itself up to the largest possible size to look impressive.

A pair of Magpies have built a nest in a tree by the Serpentine Gallery. One of them was rearranging the inside. They aren't sitting yet, and the other Magpie was out of shot on a lower branch.

There were several Jackdaws on the Parade Ground, though still no sign of Redwings or other visitors.

Ahmet Amerikali saw a pair of Long-Tailed Tit at the northwest corner of the bridge gathering nesting materials. It's very early for them to be starting to nest, but at least this place usually has plentiful midges even in winter.

He also got a fine picture of a Cetti's Warbler at the other end of the bridge.

The Coal Tit pair here are eager to be fed, but still don't dare to come to my hand, which makes things hard as there are teeming Feral Pigeons on the ground that grab anything put down for them.

There's no difficulty at the wattle tree by the Rose Garden Gate, where Blue, Great and Coal Tits assemble and pour down non-stop.

The Robin at the Buck Hill shelter struck one of its elegant poses on a railing spike.

The usual two Robins at Mount Gate came out, but today the female was in the bush where the male usually perches ...

... and he was under the bush where she generally waits.

So they are already sharing territories without conflict Again it's very early in the year for such a thing to happen. All kinds of seasonal events were disorganised by the mild spell in the autumn, and later cold weather has done nothing to halt the process. Let's hope we can get through February without another freeze-up.

Jenna's South African Red Bug, last seen in December, has reappeared and was enjoying some raspberries.

Encouraging signs from the herons' nest

The Grey Herons in the nest at the west end of the island were back together and one of them was sitting, a hopeful sign.

A heron stood in the top of a holly tree at the southwest corner of the bridge. When not fishing or hunting rats they like to have a high vantage point to survey the scene.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull at the landing stage also likes a high lookout point on the head of the Big Bird statue.

But the next dominant gull along the shore, Blue 2331 east of the Lido, had come down from his usual post to look for food along the shore.

Pigeon Eater was stretching his ferocious beak. A big gull can pick up a tennis ball, and young gulls sometimes use these as toys.

There are plenty of worms in the muddy ruins of the Parade Ground. Starlings ranged around searching for them while a Lesser Black-Backed Gull did the worm dance to bring them up.

The solitary Moorhen in the Dell has a favourite rock in the stream where it likes to stand and preen. It's still alone two years after it lost its mate to a fox. There have been occasional flirations with other Moorhens, but none of them has taken.

A Great Crested Grebe, one of the pair on the Long Water, was fishing under the willow by the bridge.

The floating basket on the other side of the bridge is supposed to be for Mute Swans to nest in, but so far none has shown any interest in it. Today it was occupied by a pair of Egyptian Geese, with a pair of Canadas wondering whether to chase them out and take it over. (I've turned the volume down -- all you can hear in this part of the park is the pestilential noise of the non-stop Iranian royalist demonstration outside the embassy.)

The basket east of the Lido is more popular, as it's in a secluded place screened from the path by bushes and reeds. But whenever I see a swan in it, it's a different one. Today it was 4HQE, a couple of days ago it was the pair 4GIS and 4HDE. When the swans get serious about nesting there's going to be a fight, and it's possible that the boss swan will prevent any of the others from nesting in any of the baskets.

A pair were courting in the water nearby.

The Black Swan was so intent on the chase that he didn't come over for his usual treat of sunflower hearts.

The tits in the Rose Garden crowded into a hawthorn as they waited to take pine nuts.

The Coal Tits at the southwest corner of the bridge remain shy and are difficult to feed, but they usually succeed with both of us trying.

The usual Robin here collected a good ration.

So did the male Robin at Mount Gate.

The female appeared in a bush holding a berry, but quickly dropped it and came out for her share.

A pair of Rose-Ringed Parakeets were taking an unwise interest in the Little Owls' hole near the Queen's Temple. I didn't see an owl, but as I left they both flew away suddenly, and probably it had come up to chase them away.