There are already two Great Crested Grebe nests on the Long Water, but today a third pair was building a nest in an unlikely spot apparently unattached to anything. There must be a submerged branch just below the surface. I don't think this nest will last long, but the grebes should be able to find a better spot when it collapses.

This picture was taken from a considerable distance, looking across the lake at an angle from the Vista.

The grebes' nest at the island, stolen from a Coot, has now been reclaimed, and the Coot has built it up into a proper nest with plenty of stout twigs.

The two grebe chicks could be heard, but not seen, at opposite ends of the island.

The Coots' nest on the edge of the Serpentine under the planters of the Lido restaurant looks to be well established. If it succeeds, it will be the only nest built on the concrete shore that has done so, as far as I can recall. The Coot saw off a Magpie that had got too close.

But Coots don't always win. The pair that nested on the net draped over the unused tern raft have been displaced by an Egyptian Goose.

On the other side of the bridge, the Egyptian pair have, against the odds, managed to keep two goslings alive in a very exposed place.

Greylag Geese and their goslings hurried off the grass on to the Serpentine as a dog came past, only to be exposed to Herring Gulls wheeling around a boat where people were unwisely feeding them. It's a tribute the the careful attention of the parents that few goslings are taken.

But Mallard ducklings seldom last long on the Serpentine, and it's remarkable that these three have survived attacks from Herring Gulls for a week.

A family of Mute Swans hung around the boathouses waiting to be given some unhealthy bread. They never have to wait long. Somehow they survive their bad diet.

The cygnets on the Long Water are noticeably larger. The family is now in firm possession of the gravel bank at the Vista, thanks to the efforts of the dominant male in driving all the other swans off the Long Water.

A Grey Heron ate insects off a patch of floating weed.

The heron that hangs around the Dell in the hope of getting food from the diners on the restaurant terrace has taken up a position on the restaurant roof previously occupied by the notorious pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull.

The gull himself is now seldom seen at the restaurant, probably because the local pigeons have learnt to give him a wide berth. However, every day recently I have seen a dead pigeon torn open in his characteristic style somewhere at the edge of the Serpentine, so he is certainly still in action.

This is the same heron seen later at the small waterfall in the Dell, waiting patiently for a fish to come within reach. There are plenty of fish of all sizes, mostly carp, as small fish get washed over the larger waterfall upstream and spend the rest of their life in this little stretch of water.

A family of Long-Tailed Tits passed by near the Italian Garden.

A Blue-Tailed Damselfly posed obligingly on a reed stem.

In June geese fly into the park from surrounding areas to moult their flight feathers in the safety of the Serpentine. This Greylag with white patches has been seen here several times before ...

... and so has this very pale one, which has only a hint of normal Greylag pattern.

Geese have to preen their new wing feathers to tear off the blue wrappings in which they emerge. It would be impossible for the feathers to come out without wrappings, because of the way the barbs point.

Yet another brood of Greylag goslings has appeared on the Serpentine. Both Greylags and Canadas have had a record year, with about 30 each.

An Egyptian Goose stood in front of her brood to protest them from a Grey Heron that was standing ominously close.

Just as I was certain that the herons in the lower nest had abandoned their second attempt at breeding, this one flew into the nest carrying a twig in its beak. Perhaps herons can't stop adding to their nests even when not nesting, in the same way as Coots.

The two teenage herons on the island were displaying at each other again. They must be siblings. They were certainly not hatched here, and have flown in from Regent's Park or Battersea Park, both of which have heronries that do better than ours.

As soon as a Mute Swan mother starts preening, the cygnets copy her. Preening seems to be be infectious, like yawning.

This cygnet was doing nothing but being fluffy. But it does that very well.

Four Mandarins, two male and two female, have taken to perching on a fallen branch at the corner of the Peter Pan waterfront.

The young Coots near the island are now diving to get their own food.

When there's food to be had, they don't hesitate. The arrival of a Canada Goose doesn't put them off in the slightest.

The Coots' nest at the Dell restaurant has become a popular attraction for visitors, and I had to wait my turn on the balcony to take this picture of a parent feeding the chicks.

The edge of the waterfall in the Dell is a favourite washing place for many kinds of birds. Today it was the turn of a Blackbird.

A Dunnock sang in a holly bush on the edge of the Long Water.

Meadow Brown butterflies are appearing in the long grass. They are the most numerous butterflies in the park, and have a long season.

On a hot day, the male Little Owl near the leaf yard was basking in the sunshine on the top of the chestnut tree.

He preened and had a good scratch.

A young Long-Tailed Tit was also sunbathing, with its tail feathers spread out.

The Feral Pigeons were queuing up to cool down at their favourite bathing place in the Italian Garden fountain.

A Blackbird collected several worms for its nestlings.

A Mistle Thrush was also looking for food to bring to its nest. It found a cherry tomato discarded from someone's salad, pecked at it experimentally and decided that it didn't like tomatoes either.

Tinúviel sent this interesting picture of a House Sparrow--Spanish Sparrow cross seen near Trujillo.

Two teenage Grey Herons confronted each other at the island. I don't know what they were trying to do, and doubt that they did either. (The one on the left is standing on the Great Crested Grebes' nest. Both grebe chicks could be heard at the other end of the island.)

A heron was eating insects from the surface of the Long Water near Peter Pan. It finished by catching a damselfly.

This Common Blue damselfly was sunning itself on the stonework of the Italian Garden.

A Magpie put away a fair number of insects in the little pool at the top of the Dell waterfall.

Two Red-Crested Pochard drakes were fairly hoovering them up.

A Mandarin drake at Peter Pan was almost completely in eclipse. Soon he will look almost like a female. In this inconspicuous state he will be safer when he moults his wing feathers and is temporarily flightless.

Two families of Greylag Geese were begging for food at the east end of the Serpentine. They know very well that parading their goslings will get them plenty of handouts.

Barry Jones sent me this pleasing picture of one of this year's cygnets flapping its tiny wings.

You don't often see a Triceratops in the park.

Glad to say I was wrong about one of the Great Crested Grebe chicks on the Serpentine having died. Their parents had taken one each, as they sometimes do when the chicks were half grown.

They were at opposite ends of the island.

When Tom and I went past later, he got this fine picture of one swallowing a large perch, which it just managed to do.

The Coot chicks at the Dell restaurant are now seldom seen together, but all five squeezed into this picture.

At the island, a Coot was keeping its chicks in the safety of one of the wire baskets that were supposed to contain water plants (thought most of these have died or been eaten). The chick can be conveniently fed through the mesh.

Mesh can be useful in other ways. A Coot near the Lido felt brave enough to threaten a Mute Swan because they were separated by a stout net.

A swan at the island was carrying one of her cygnets ...

... until she climbed ashore and it fell off.

Some of the moulting Greylag Geese are already regrowing their flight feathers, which are emerging in their blue wrappings.

Another good picture taken By Tom at the island, of a Red-Crested Pochard simultaneously eating weed and flapping.

There was a Grey Wagtail at the island. Tom thought it was a juvenile, but the photograph shows a small dark patch at its throat and I think it's a pale adult female.

Lesser Black-Backed Gulls were washing in their usual place offshore from the statue of Peter Pan.

The freshly dug flower beds in the Rose Garden attracted several Blackbirds looking for worms.

Another Blackbird carried a mixed meal of bugs to the nest.

A Song Thrush sang in a holly tree beside the Long Water.

A pair of Magpies and a pair of Carrion Crows had a brief spat near the Henry Moore sculpture, where both have overlapping territories.

The roses in the Rose Garden are in magnificent bloom, but the bees aren't interested in them and prefer modest little flowers.

Several families of Blue Tits dashed around in an oak tree near the Henry Moore sculpture, with parents finding insects and the fledglings constantly calling.

The Great Tits in the leaf yard were also very busy.

A family of Long-Tailed Tits passed through the trees near the Italian Garden.

A female Blackbird was preening in a tree. Her mate was in the same tree, but there was no sign of young birds. Maybe they had been predated. But life goes on.

A Jackdaw clung to a tree trunk in the shrubbery and gave me a bright-eyed stare, expecting to be given a peanut.

And there was a sidelong glance from a Jay.

A Carrion Crow was interested in what looked like a bit of paper. Closer inspection showed that it was squeezing the last drops from a sachet of soy sauce.

The teenage Grey Heron was fishing at the island.

The Coots nesting at the Dell restaurant have finally realised that their remaining eggs won't hatch, and have pushed them out of the nest. One of the chicks was just leaving to join the others under the balcony, where their parents were feeding them.

It was changeover time at the Great Crested Grebes' nest in the reed bed on the Long Water.

The nest in the fallen poplar tree at the Vista is constantly occupied, and clearly has eggs in it though you can't see them from across the lake.

I always count the goslings of the large Canada family to make sure that there are still 15.

But when they stood up, an extra gosling appeared, which had been hidden in the middle of the heap. It was smaller than the others, and must have strayed in from another brood. These mistakes happen quite often, and sort themselves out in time.

An Egyptian gosling also seemed to be confused about who its mother was.

The Egyptians near the bridge still have two goslings, despite the lack of cover and the marauding gulls. With no access to grass, they seem to be doing all right on the plants in the border.

The Mute Swans are moulting their flight feathers. Every time they preen, more come out. They will be flightless for several weeks.