A Little Grebe in the reeds near the Italian Garden had caught an impractically large perch, impossible for this small bird to swallow whole.

It took it into the reeds and there was a lot of furious splashing as the bird tried to batter the fish to pieces. I am not sure whether it succeeded, but Little Grebes are known to break up fish when they are feeding their young.

This extremely dull picture of three Great Crested Grebes makes a point.

When you see more than two grebes clustered peacefully together, it means either that they are about to fly out or, as in this case, that they have just arrived. Within a couple of days they will have settled into pairs and started claiming territory, and if you see more than two together they will be in the middle of a dispute.

This male Wood Pigeon was standing tall and puffing himself up to make himself look attractive to a group -- presumably including females -- that were sitting a few feet away.

It is a similar display to that of the Feral Pigeon, but performed as a solitary show rather than to an individual female.

A Herring Gull was in summer breeding plumage, with a pure white head rather than the streaky look of its winter feathers.

There is a breeding colony of Herring Gulls in Paddington, which explains why you see so many of them flying around the railway station, to the exclusion of Lesser Black-Backed Gulls which are just as numerous in the park to the south.

There were only a few Redwings in Hyde Park, again at the eastern end next to Park Lane. They were mixed in with a flock of Starlings, and impossible to count. There were also some Pied Wagtails on the open ground. This one is a female, with a grey back; males have black backs.

The male Tawny Owl was in his usual place on the nest tree, and didn't open an eye while I was there.

There were at least 50 Redwings in the avenue of large plane trees at the east end of Hyde Park, parallel to Park Lane. This area is not fenced off and the birds were aware of this, so it was impossible to get within 50 yards of them when they were feeding on the ground.

On the other hand, this Mistle Thrush was too busy hauling up a worm to take any notice of my approach.

A Song Thrush was singing loudly in a tree near the Serpentine Bridge.

And a Blackbird on the other side of the bridge was finishing the last of a crop of berries.

There was a Blackbird singing yesterday in this area. They start later than the other thrushes.

A pity that there was no sign of a Fieldfare, which would have brought the total of thrushes up to five. But they have been very scarce in the park this year.

Some Mandarins have reappeared on the Long Water.

I saw two males and a female, all near Peter Pan. I don't think they come and go to any great extent; they can sometimes be seen under a bush on the opposite side of the lake, and it seems likely that when they are not visible they are lurking inside this bush, on land, as Mandarins often do.

The male Tawny Owl was dozing in his usual place on the nest tree.

Elizabeth reports having seen the female owl with him in the same place at sunset yesterday, emerging from the hole at the back of the balcony to encourage her mate to go off and find some mice for her -- and, we hope, for the recently hatched owlets.

At least 20 Redwings were foraging in the fenced-off area at the south end of the Parade Ground. They feel safer in trees than on the ground, and you can get a bit closer to them.

There was a Great Spotted Woodpecker high in a tree overhead, much too far away for a good picture but at least this shows that it was there, in a place where I have never seen one before.

The same area also had plenty of Starlings and Pied Wagtails. Even the most barren and unpromising area fills with birds is only you keep people out of it.

A pair of Magpies were building a typically large, messy nest in a tree in the Dell.

The pair of Great Crested Grebes at the Serpentine island were in the same place as yesterday, at the east end.

When they start hanging about in an offshore spot it is often a sign that they are reserving it for a future nest -- though they may not start building it yet, and of course they are still at liberty to change their minds if they find somewhere better.

One of the Grey Herons' nests on the island also had an occupant, but despite having gathered and placed hundreds of twigs these birds seem less likely to go ahead with nesting. More often than not all three nests are empty. In contrast, herons in Regent's Park and Battersea Park are already really nesting.

The male Tawny owl was on his balcony as usual.

For some time the female owl has not been seen taking one of her early morning breaks from nesting duty. We hope this means that she is busy with owlets.

A pair of Mute Swans on the Serpentine were displaying to each other in the usual way, arching and dipping their necks in unison. But then things got rough, and they started barging each other about quite violently.

I was wondering whether this was a prelude to mating, in which the male usually chases the female before jumping on her. But no, it wasn't, and after this they settled down again and continued their usual decorous display. Was she saying 'OK, I'm your mate, but not now'?

The first Coot nest to be properly and visibly occupied has started on the Long Water near Peter Pan. It is built on a fallen branch some way out into the lake, a very exposed position at risk from marauding Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls.

There are many places along the edge of the lake where a more sheltered nest could be built more easily, so it seems a strange choice.

The Great Crested Grebes whose first choice of a nest site on the Serpentine island was pre-empted by a Coot have now moved to the east end of the island and are examining nest sites there. This site has sometimes succeeded in past years, and has sometime been raided by wading Grey Herons, as the water is fairly shallow. However, the herons have completely lost the urge to nest on the island for the time being.

The male Tawny Owl was on his usual balcony in the nest tree, though he was rather restless and at one time went inside for several minutes before reappearing.

And here is something quite unexpected so early in the year, a Peacock butterfly (Aglais io). It was not even in the park; it was a hundred yards south of it, on the pavement in Queen's Gate.

The adult Great Black-Backed Gull was back on the Long Water, standing on the tern raft (which gets every species of water bird on it except terns). It is rather a static bird, and just stands there looking enormous. I've been hoping to have a picture of it hunting Feral Pigeons, but it won't oblige.

This Black-Headed Gull, on the other hand, was busily at play, constantly picking up a stick, taking off and dropping it in the water.

The male Tawny Owl was inside his tree when I passed, so I didn't get a picture, and didn't have time to come back later and see if he had emerged. We can hardly complain, as he has given us a wonderful show over the past few weeks.

The Coot at the Serpentine island that was glaring at the pair of Great Crested Grebes yesterday is still looming menacingly over them.

Closer inspection shows that it is building a nest on top of the basket, and doesn't want any other birds nesting in its territory. The grebes want to make their nest on the far side of the basket a few feet to the right, but it looks as if they are going to have to find somewhere else.

The two pairs of grebes on the Long Water, however, have reserved their nesting place early, and are constantly hanging around the spot to make sure that no other bird takes it. Here is one under the willow tree near the bridge.

Near the small boathouses, two young Mute Swans which had just been chased off by their father were consoling themselves with each other's company and a soothing session of preening.

A very wet day, but business goes on as usual for the Cormorants at the bridge.

The Long-Tailed Tits are completely undeterred by rain in their endless quest for bugs.

I don't know what they are finding in their wanderings through the trees and bushes, while so many other insect-eating birds have flown south: maybe overwintering larvae. With their little beaks they can't probe deeply into cracks like Treecreepers and Nuthatches. But they are surviving, and of course carrying other tits and Goldcrests along in their foraging flocks.

The male Tawny Owl was out on his balcony, with raindrops dotting his feathers but not sinking in. He could go indoors, but maybe it is a bit noisy if the owlets are hatching.

This Lesser Black-Backed Gull on the edge of the Serpentine is already in breeding plumage ready for the spring. It has dropped the grey feathers that streaked its head in winter, and is now pure white and looking very elegant with matching yellow accessories.

The two Mute Swans on the Long Water were going around without last year's offspring. The pampered young bird is now with the other swans, having to fight its way up the dominance ladder. It father taught it to behave like a complete thug, but will this work now that it is out in the world on its own?

These Great Crested Grebes at the Serpentine island thought they had a moment to themselves, and then a great Coot started breathing down their necks.

This Treecreeper in the Flower Walk 'froze' when I was photographing it. They do this when predators threaten, relying on their excellent camouflage to stay unnoticed. It isn't the usual behaviour when humans lumber into view, which is of course to rush round to the far side of the tree. Possibly it had seen some creature more alarming than me, such as a Magpie.

A pair of Ring-Necked Parakeets were being very affectionate in front of that supreme display of love the Albert Memorial, Britain's equivalent of the Taj Mahal.

And the Great Crested Grebes at the Serpentine island were also clearly very fond of each other.

Not that this is a surprising in a pair of Great Crested Grebes, who spend a great deal of time in displays of affection. Even if one of a pair goes round the far side of the island for ten minutes there will be a greeting ceremony when they are reunited.

This male Mute Swan was in a completely different mood, chasing off everything in sight.

On the other hand, this aggression would have impressed his mate, so different birds express their affection in different ways. All the swans on the lake are in a savage mood as spring approaches, and the male on the Long Water was chasing a harmless Greylag Goose just for the fun of it.

The male Tawny Owl was on his balcony as usual, faithfully guarding his mate who is inside the tree on her nest. If they are on schedule the owlets will be hatching now.

There are still Redwings on the Parade Ground near the bandstand. I only saw three, but they were flying into a tree which may have held more of them.