Wigeon, though common enough in wetland areas, is an unusual species in the park. Three flew in to the Round Pond this afternoon.

The Black Swan was in the middle of a crowd expecting to be fed. Although it's considerably smaller than a Mute Swan, its neck is very long and it can reach as high as any of them.

The elusive Little Grebe appeared momentarily under the willow tree near the bridge.

A cold day kept people out of the Diana memorial fountain, and a young Herring Gull took the opportunity to enjoy paddling in the rapids.

Another Herring Gull found a crayfish in the Serpentine, and was harassed by Carrion Crows trying to grab it.

One crow managed to get a leg that had fallen off.

At the other end of the lake, the pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull had also found a crayfish, needless to say a bigger and better one.

The number of crayfish in the lake is cyclical: they gradually increase and then there is a die-off and they disappear for a year or more. Mateusz at Bluebird Boats monitors the population by trapping crayfish in a net, later releasing them, and he told me that numbers were up again. But the fact that two gulls had one within minutes of each other suggests that they are now dying and being washed up on the shore.

A Common Gull gave the camera a hard stare, though it does seem that the placement of their eyes means that can't see clearly straight ahead. Other gulls have slightly more forward-set eyes.

A Magpie on a railing showed off the blue and green iridescence of its wing coverts and tail.

A Carrion Crow in the Rose Garden ate a pigeon that had been killed by a Sparrowhawk, as the scattered feathers show.

This is the Coal Tit in the Rose Garden that is usually waiting on a twig while I fill up the feeder with sunflower hearts.

A Blue Tit near the bridge was also expecting service.

The hawthorn trees just to the west of the Italian Garden are a favourite stop for flocks of Long-Tailed Tits. They must have a lot of insects in them.

This planter at the Lido restaurant is clearly infested with some kind of small creatures, which a Starling enthusiastically dug up.

The male Little Owl near the Henry Moore sculpture was enjoying the sunshine.

A Green Woodpecker called on Buck Hill ...

... and a Rose-Ringed Parakeet settled into its winter hole. All three species shelter from the cold in tree holes.

A Robin foraged in a flower bed in the Rose Garden. The ability of birds to find tiny edible creatures on the ground in winter never ceases to surprise.

A Blackbird rummaged among the fallen leaves in the Dell.

A rather shop-soiled white Feral Pigeon looked down from a branch beside the Serpentine.

A Grey Heron stood on the moored rowing boats.

A Tufted drake dived for food in the shallow water at Peter Pan.

A young Great Crested Grebe fished under the nearby fallen poplar.

The plain plumage of a female Shoveller is relieved by a patch of brilliant iridescent green on its secondaries.

I had to go to the nut shop in Bell Street to stock up with pine nuts for the small birds, and this meant walking up the side of the huge enclosure of the Winter Wasteland. The sinister giant had a Pied Wagtail on his shoulder, looking for insects in his matted hair.

A pair of Carrion Crows preened each other on the hoarding.

It's not a good idea to win too many giant stuffed prizes. You have to carry them home and decide what to do with them.

When I photographed the Dakota on the tower two years ago, it was grubby and old-looking and I thought it was real. But now it's been repainted, and the way the sunlight catches its shiny surface shows it to be a fibreglass replica.

Glad to say that the original is still taking people on pleasure trips, as far as I know.

Picture by M. Oertle, 2015 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Arriving at Bell Street, I looked back at the Metropole Hilton Hotel in the Edgware Road, and one of the Peregrines was in the usual place on the tower.

As I came into the park, some Long-Tailed Tits were investigating a bush. There was time for just one picture, which by chance showed one taking off from a twig.

Two Little Owls were visible again today, the male near the Henry Moore sculpture ...

... and the female in the oak near the Albert Memorial.

A Jay raised its crest.

A Wren climbed a tree in the Rose Garden ...

... while a Robin stayed on the ground.

Although most of the Chaffinches near the bridge have gone away, there are still a couple.

A Blackbird poked about under a yew, looking for insects in the leaf litter.

Grey Herons like to perch in weeping willow trees, and can often be seen in these around the Serpentine.

This is the Red-Crested Pochard drake that is a long-term resident in the Italian Garden fountains and has a Mallard mate. It was time to look after those fine feathers.

A pair of Shovellers revolved at the Vista.

As the sun was setting over the Round Pond,  Black-Headed Gulls hovered and screamed as someone held up food for them.

The Black Swan came to the edge in the fading light, hoping for a share. It's getting used to park life and being fed.

A frosty start to a sunny day. A Jackdaw was fluffed up against the cold, making it look as if it was wearing plus fours.

The male Little Owl near the Henry Moore sculpture was out making the most of the sunshine.

So was the owl near the Albert Memorial.

A pair of Jays stared down as I was photographing this owl, waiting to be given peanuts.

There were a few Redwings at each end of the bridge.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits went by.

A Starling stared intently from the railings of the Lido restaurant.

The pigeon-killing Lesser Black-Backed Gull was staring even harder at a group of pigeons bathing in the Serpentine. They noticed, and fled before he could run at them.

Another Lesser Black-Back was eating a pigeon, but I had seen the corpse earlier and seen that it had the marks of having been killed and partly eaten by a Sparrowhawk.

A pair of Mute Swans preening on the island ignored a pair of Egyptians displaying noisily behind them.

The Black Swan on the Round Pond always manages to be at the front when people are feeding the waterfowl.

Joan Chatterley sent a fine picture of the young Black Swan in St James's Park, now almost fully grown, with a parent.

A Shoveller drake revolved at the Vista, filtering tiny creatures out of the water brought up by his own wake.

A horse chestnut tree near the Round Pond has a fine crop of Oyster mushrooms.

Another sunny morning brought the female Little Owl at the Albert Memorial out to the front of the pair's hole. It was cold, and she had fluffed herself up as much as possible.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits flew past, one of several seen today.

A Starling shone in the sunlight.

It wasn't clear what attracted a small flock of Rose-Ringed Parakeets to this tree, but a closer look showed that leaf buds were just beginning to develop and the birds were eating them.

Herring Gulls, Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, Common Gulls and Black-Headed Gulls massed on the moored pedalos of Bluebird Boats, whose unfortunate staff have to jet wash the boats every morning before they can be hired out.

Five species in a row on the posts at Peter Pan: Black-Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Grey Heron and Cormorant.

Both the youngest Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water are alive and well. One was fishing with a parent near Peter Pan, and this one was by itself under a bush near the Italian Garden.

Whatever the time of year, Coots will be fighting.

One of the rescued young Mute Swans cruised through some dead leaves on the Serpentine.

A few more Shovellers have arrived on the Long Water -- but only a few. A few years ago we used to get at least 50 every winter. However, there were 108 in Richmond Park on Thursday.

There's a winter migrant flock of about 40 Common Pochards on the Long Water, but this resident bird never goes near them and feeds on the other side of the bridge.

The sunlight showed off the green and purple sheen on the head of a Tufted drake.

A pair of Egyptian Geese displayed noisily on the Henry Moore sculpture, and two Jackdaws came up to see what all the racket was about.

Tom was at Rainham Marshes, and got a fine shot of a large flock of Dunlins wheeling in front of the viaduct that carries the Eurostar to the Channel Tunnel.