Wandering owl

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was in a lime tree where I hadn't seen her before. I wouldn't have found her if Amanda hadn't seen her flying from her usual tree to this one and kindly sent me an email with the location.

Long-Tailed Tits hunted through the scrubby patch at the east end of the Lido ...

... accompanied by Blue Tits.

A Jackdaw waited on a stump near the Italian Garden ...

... a Jay chose a magnolia at Mount Gate ...

...and a Carrion Crow stared from the marble fountain in the Italian Garden.

The dominant Black-Headed Gull stood on the landing stage by the Diana fountain, having chased all rivals off his territory.

The faceoff between the Grey Heron and the Cormorant on the electric boat charging platform continued.

The behaviour of Cormorants is obscure, but I think this interchange when they tried to grab each other's beaks was a mild sparring match because the Cormorant on the chain would have liked to be on the better perch of a post.

The two Great Crested Grebe teenagers from the east end of the island were fishing together. I'm sure they must be getting a few things in their early attempts, but I still haven't seen any of them with a fish.

The youngest chick was in the care of its father in the middle of the Long Water by the Vista.

Nearer the shore, a Pochard drake had a particularly frantic wash and flap.

The single Mute cygnet was here too, and I could see the plastic ring newly put on by Bill Haines: Orange 4HTH.

The 'Polish' swan 4FUJ, with grey feet, is often under the willow by the Triangle. 

The Black Swan stood on the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace and preened his odd white wings. His colour scheme seems upside down, but then he is Australian.

The three young Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine were all hatched within days of each other but differ considerably in size. The largest now has well feathered wings and the smallest is way behind in development. It's very likely going to be an undersized adult -- you do see these.

There are still a few Small White butterflies in the Rose Garden.

Willow leaves attracted several Common Wasps. It's usual to see swans and geese eating willow leaves, but they seem to be attractive to wasps too. Maybe it has chewed the leaf stem so that a little sweet sap oozes out.

Teal still here

It was a day of wind and drizzle. Cormorants balanced on posts at the island.

The three Egyptian goslings settled into a comfortable huddle to keep warm.

Feral Pigeons sheltered under the cornice of the bridge.

But at least we got a rainbow as the sky began to clear.

It was a surprise to see the three female Teal still on the Long Water. The one on the right showed a glimpse of its brilliant green secondary feathers. It's a mystery why people use the word 'teal' for a very different shade of blue-green.

A pair of Mallards had a shower in the bowl of the marble fountain in the Italian Garden.

A young Moorhen trotted across the flagstones.

The Great Crested Grebes from the east end of the Serpentine, now free of the task of bringing up their teenager, went back to defending their terrtory against the next pair up the lake.

A Mute Swan at the Vista had a wash and a mighty flap.

Pigeon Eater looked out over the dead leaves at the Dell restaurant.

Long-Tailed Tits flitted through the trees at the back of the Lido.

Not surprisingly, the Little Owl wasn't out. But the newly confident Coal Tit was at the Serpentine Gallery and came to my hand.

The Robin in the Flower Walk arrived for his customary three pine nuts.

A Jay landed fearlessly among the lethal spikes of the cockspur hawthorn at Mount Gate,

A Magpie perched in the brown leaves of a maple by Temple Gate.

In the Rose Garden a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee spiked a hole in a baby sage flower with its probsocis.

The exotic planting at the bandstand lavatory now features a gaudy orange canna.

Visiting Teal

We seldom see Teal here, and they never stay for more than a day. There were three females under the Italian Garden. Note how small they are compared to the passing Mallard.

The youngest Great Crested Grebe chick, in the care of its father under the bridge ...

... was allowed to come out on the Hyde Park side, where its mother brought a fish which it only just managed to swallow.

The oldest teenager was exploring, and came up on the shore at the Lido, where there is an easy slope out of the water and no kerb. They soon lose interest in the shore, but have to try everything once. Thanks to Bill Haines for this picture.

Two young Moorhens wandered up the edge of restaurant terrace.

A pair of Cormorants at the island played with a tuft of grass and a feather, and displayed to each other. They were just idling away the time between fishing expeditions.

Pigeon Eater came down for a drink ...

... leaving the Dell restaurant roof clear for the Herring Gull pair which are only there when he isn't.

A Carrion Crow drank from the Huntress fountain.

A Jackdaw looked down expectantly from a tree by the boat hire platform.

One of the inevitable Jays appeared in a holly tree by Temple Gate ...

... where the Robin from the bridge was waiting in a yew.

The yew in the Dell was the scene for a Coal Tit ...

... and a Blue Tit.

It was a relief to see the male Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery back on his usual branch in the plane tree.

The fox at the Vista, peacefully eating peanuts, heard an Egyptian Goose warning of the approach of a dog and prepared to retreat into the brambles.

A colder day reduced insect activity and I only saw one dragonfly, a Migrant Hawker.

The hardy Buff-Tailed Bumblebees were still at work. This one was on a clump of purslane in the Rose Garden.

Autumn sets in

On a day of rain and drizzle the Great Tits were hungry and poured out of the trees to take pine nuts. There was a pair of Coal Tits in a bay tree beside the Serpentine Gallery and one of them, encouraged by the stream of other birds, came to my hand although I had never had any dealings with it before.

The Robin at the southwest corner of the bridge had been sheltering in an oak tree.

A Jay on the bridge was looking soggy ...

... and a Magpie perched in heavy rain on a lamp post in the Diana fountain car park.

A pair of Carrion Crows perched together in the half-dead variegated holly tree between the bridge and the Vista.

A Grey Wagtail hunted along the edge of the Lido restaurant terrace.

A Black-Headed Gull pecked at a dead fish at Fisherman's Keep.

Another perched on an eroded naiad in the Italian Garden.

A Grey Heron on the electric boat charging platform disapproved of a Cormorant intruding on its territory.

The Great Crested Grebe teenagers from the east end of the Serpentine island were fishing together, but when a parent appeared they sped off to start begging.

Grebes do not eat only fish. This one had found a 'rat-tailed maggot', an aquatic hoverfly larva.

The young Moorhen at the island amused itself by climbing on a bench.

The Black Swan saw me by the Triangle and charged over for some sunflower hearts.

One of the resident pair of Egyptian Geese in the Rose Garden enjoyed a wash in the Huntress fountain.

Three Red-Crested Pochard drakes cruised under the bridge. They are not yet in full breeding plumage, the one in the middle being most advanced.

The wire baskets at the bridge, which are fish hatcheries, were being refilled with twigs, a tricky job as the tops are held on with metal clamps that have to be snipped off under water.

The exotic planting at the bandstand lavatory has produced this bright red thing, which I am told is a sheath for a newly unfurled leaf. It's a Rubber Plant, Ficus elastica, a familiar and usually drab sight in offices and lobbies, but I had no idea that they could be so bright.