The Black-Headed Gulls are returning, the first sign of approaching autumn. These were on the posts opposite Peter Pan.

The Black Swan is back with his girlfriend after neglecting her for several weeks. They were preening together on the Mute Swans' resting ground near the bridge.

She is pure white now, except for a trace of grey on top of her head.

The moulting geese that have not yet regrown their wing feathers are reduced to an undignified shuffle when chasing one that has won a bit of bread.

One of the Canada-Greylag hybrids is with the Greylags. It must have had a Greylag mother, because it thinks it's a Greylag, and the others accept it. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the three Greylag goslings that have been adopted by a pair of Canadas.

It's strange that, while the other male ducks on the lake are in eclipse and looking drab, Common Pochard drakes seem to be as smart, or almost as smart, as ever. Perhaps this one (on the right of his mate here) is a bit browner on the chest that he would be at other times of year, but he has kept his fine ginger head and grey back.

The solitary Mandarin duckling has been thoroughly spoilt by people feeding it, and comes trotting over to take a piece of biscuit. But it seems healthy enough.

This young Egyptian was not expecting food, it was just staring curiously at the camera. Luckily for the Egyptians, they are now considered so ordinary that few people give them bread, and in the past two years none of them has suffered from 'angel wing' caused by unsuitable food.

Blondie's family were beside the reed bed at the east end of the Serpentine. This is where Blondie was hatched two years ago, and where she raised her own brood. She seldom moves far away from it, though she did once spend a few days on the Round Pond.

The young Great Crested Grebe came quite close to the edge of the Serpentine -- the first chance of getting a reasonable photograph of it.

The young Great Tits are still chasing their parents around calling for food.

The female Little Owl from the nest near the leaf yard was in a horse chestnut tree overlooking the Vista.

The owlets were audible in the leaf yard, but not visible. I also hear one of the owlets from the nest near the Albert Memorial, but couldn't find it.

The wild flower patch at the back of the Lido is beginning to bloom. The strange red, white and blue flowers of borage are much liked by honeybees.

On a patch of algae in one of the Italian Garden, a tiny fly had landed in the blind spot of a Small Red-Eyed Damselfly, which would otherwise have seized and eaten it.

A Little Egret flew over the Long Water, heading south. Their numbers are increasing but they are still rare in Central London. Two were seen at Hammersmith Bridge on Friday.

A Grey Heron was climbing very tentatively down a duckboard into one of the Italian Garden ponds. Herons are very agile when landing in trees, but it was clearly nervous of the slippery slope and hanging on to the rungs with its toes. It soon gave up and flew away.

There was a new Mallard family at Peter Pan, with four ducklings.

A Herring Gull in the water a few feet away was looking at them hungrily.

The brown Mallard drake had come down from the Round Pond. This looks like a sepia photograph, but he really is that colour.

The Black Swan was preening on the edge of the Serpentine.

The single Great Crested Grebe chick and its father were also preening in unison.

A Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Round Pond was collecting insects for its young. I think they nest in the stonework of Kensington Palace, as I have seen them flying up to the roof of the central block.

A young Blackbird near the Serpentine Gallery was chasing its mother, calling to be fed.

The young Magpies are almost grown up, with quite long tails and fine iridescent feathers, but they still have a slightly fluffy look.

One of the Little owlets from the oak tree near the Albert Memorial was in a chestnut tree southwest of the nest tree.

Another was calling from an oak nearby, but I couldn't see it.

The male Little Owl from the chestnut tree near the leaf yard was on his usual branch.

We wish he would choose a place where he was easier to photograph.

The first Giant Puffballs of the year are out near the northwest corner of the bridge.

The Little Owl family had all moved into the leaf yard and were hard to see but could be heard. There was a brief glimpse of one of the owlets in an ash tree behind the upper of the two benches on the south side.

Later the male flew back into the nest tree, where he was more visible.

A Grey Wagtail was flying around the lower waterfall in the Dell looking for insects to feed a young one, which was parked on a rock.

This seems to be the second brood of Grey Wagtails this year, since there is already a young bird that is now independent.

A Wren scolded a Magpie from an ornamental bush in the Rose Garden.

The sunlight caught the iridescent blue feathers of the teenage Mandarin, which was mooching around the Vista.

These Red Crested Pochards are drakes in eclipse, looking almost like females except for the red eye and bill.

A Moorhen occupied a deserted Coot nest under the willow near the bridge. It will only be able to nest there if the Coots don't want the nest back, and they are very jealous of their property.

A Great Crested Grebe and the one chick so far came over to the Serpentine island, with the chick as usual chasing its parent and constantly calling.

One of the young Grey Herons made a short flight from the nest and managed to land in a tree without mishap.

Emperor dragonflies were hunting over the Long Water by the Italian Garden.

A Painted Lady butterfly recklessly settled in the middle of a path beside the Long Water. By chance it was perfectly camouflaged against the tarmac and gravel, and was in imminent danger of being trodden on.

On a busy Saturday in the park there wasn't anything very exciting to see. But one of the adult Little Owls in the oak tree near the Albert Memorial was out on a branch.

While I was there one of the shy owlets darted across the nest hole, but didn't stay long enough for a picture. There was no sign of the Little Owl family in the chestnut tree at the leaf yard, or in the maple they sometimes use, and we think they had all gone into the leaf yard to get away from the Magpies.

A pair of Carrion Crows always intercept me when I go to the oak tree. This is almost certainly the male of the pair. When I threw them both a peanut he took hers too, and then another one I threw to her, so he had three, the most he could carry. He hid them in a lump of grass mowings, then the scheming bird strolled up to me looking innocent and hungry.

The white-faced Blackbird near the Italian Garden was methodically collecting a large lump of mud. There must have been insects or worms in it to feed to her nestlings.

A Reed Warbler was singing in the reed bed east of the Lido swimming area.

Just up the hill from here is the Greylag Goose nursery. Here is the family with nine goslings, now growing well, with another younger family in the background.

Blondie the Egyptian Goose was down on the shore with her three, which are also getting quite large now.

This is a picture taken by Fran yesterday. An Egyptian with just one small chick was bathing in the Diana fountain, and the baby got washed away down the rapids. A visitor retrieved it and brought it back to her.

I couldn't find the Black Swan, although I went round the lake twice. Probably he was on the island.

A Mute Swan was having a wash, enthusiastically flapping its wings with newly grown feathers.

The Coots on the little island in the Long Water have been encouraged by their magnificent nest ornament and have produced two chicks.

This close-up of another Coot family shows that when the parents dive the the bottom they don't just bring up algae. They also find nutritious grubs for the chicks.

A white Feral Pigeon on the landing stage at the Diana fountain gave me a beady look. It is leucistic but not an albino, as it has dark eyes.

There are Small Red-Eyed Damselflies on a patch of duckweed under the balustrade of the Italian Garden, but they are so far away that it's impossible to get a good picture of one.

Here's another of Johanna van de Woestijne's excellent short films about the park, this time looking at the young birds that appeared in June. It's in HD. Select the highest quality by clicking on the gearwheel icon.

It was a dark wet morning. Rain brings the insects flying over the water down to an altitude of a few inches, and the Swifts ...

... and House Martins come down with them.

A young Pied Wagtail was standing on a mat of algae on the Round Pond while its father flew overhead.

The young ones are now independent and catching their own insects.

The Magpie parent, on the left, also felt that its demanding offspring should feed itself, and was pointedly ignoring it.

The Great Crested Grebes on the lake are still feeding their chick, and will continue to do so for some time. The chick has started chasing its parents under water, which is how a young grebe learns to hunt. But the parent -- I think this is its mother -- got tired of being closely shadowed, and gave it a sharp peck.

Within seconds it was following her again.

There was a Mallard with two ducklings under the willow tree near the bridge.

I don't think these are the survivors of the family I photographed at the bridge on 18 June. They would be larger by now. I never saw that family again, and nor did anyone else I've spoken with.

Someone asked me where the male Mandarins had gone. The answer is that they've become invisible. In eclipse they look almost like females. In this picture the two farthest away are drakes, as shown by their reddish bills.

This Mallard has a very disturbed colour pattern.

The normal pattern of a Mallard drake in breeding plumage is itself a disturbance of the regular speckled pattern of a female. The surge of male hormones causes the speckles to break into blocks of colour. Mallard drakes in full eclipse, when the hormones have subsided, have the same pattern as females.

The male Little Owl was sitting out in the morning rain, getting wet. He shook the water off his feathers.

Later it brightened up, and one of the owlets came out to the front of the tree.

I visited the oak tree near the Albert Memorial three times to try to see one of the Little owlets there. The first two times one was looking out of the hole, but vanished the moment I appeared. The third time there was nothing. It's odd how much more timid these owlets are than the ones in the chestnut tree, which stand their ground and stare back at you.

A Grey Heron flew through the rain over the Long Water.

In the afternoon the sun came out briefly. Here is a heron looking for fish among the water lilies in the Italian Garden.