The Black Swan can dominate the low-status Mute Swans on the Round Pond. But when it flies down to the more spacious Serpentine or the Long Water it often gets beaten up by the higher-status swans, and then returns for an easier life on the pond.

Greylag Geese on the edge of the Serpentine saw a dog coming and prepared to flee into the water.

This is the female of the first pair of Egyptian Geese to come into the park more than twenty years ago. She seems to have been getting paler over the years, and her wings are now as grey as Blondie's. She is very tame but I've never been able to warm to her, as she has been such a terrible mother and invariably lets her goslings be eaten by gulls and crows.

A Gadwall drake picked small creatures off the surface of the lake, and then came into the edge to graze on algae.

The male Great Crested Grebe from the pair that nest at the east end of the island has very pale winter plumage. There's a good deal of variation in colour between individuals.

A Coot ripped green leaves off the reed stems and ate them. Many water birds like reeds, which makes these hard to grow and the organised reed beds in the lake have nets round them -- but the Coots always get in anyway.

A Moorhen had no trouble evicting a Black-Headed Gull from a post ...

... but another Black-Headed Gull was boldly chasing a Carrion Crow. I think the crow was leading it on for fun.

Gulls collected as sunset approached to take advantage of the last of the thermals and gain height to fly to their roosts.

One of the regular Jays near the bridge was getting quite annoyed. Not only was I delaying its customary peanut by taking pictures, but I had also been changing the battery in the camera.

A Goldcrest in the leaf yard found a small larva of a yew twig.

There was a group of Chaffinches in a tree near the Round Pond.

The Robin near the Lido restaurant was in its favourite place on the olive tree.

Just across the path, a Honeybee browsed in the yellow flowers of a berberis (or maybe a mahonia, the names seem to be a bit vague).

A patch of Honey Fungus in the Dell bodes ill for the many ornamental trees planted there. But once it's arrived there's not much you can do about it.

Wood Pigeons stuffed themselves with berries in a holly tree near the bridge.

There was a male Chaffinch on top of the tree ...

... a female under it ...

... and a Goldcrest in the middle. Thanks to Ahmet Amerikali for the third picture.

A Blue Tit perched on a stem beside the Long Water.

A Jackdaw neatly opened a peanut I gave it and ate the contents.

The female Peregrine ...

... and her mate were on the barracks tower again, as usual perched an unsociable distance apart.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was being bothered by Carrion Crows, and expressed his exasperation.

A Cormorant washed on the Long Water ...

... and a Shoveller was caught by the low sun.

At the edge of the Dell restaurant terrace, the resident pair of Moorhens looked crossly at a pair of Egyptians standing in their territory.

Blondie rinsed and preened her ash-grey wings.

Three teenage Mute Swans took care of their feathers. They are already beginning to turn white but won't be fully changed till well into next year.

Yucca flowers in the Rose Garden attracted a late Honeybee.

There was a sudden outbreak of Harlequin ladybirds flying all over Kensington Gardens.

A Field Blewit mushroom at the foot of Buck Hill.

After several weeks without a sight of a Blackbird, at last one turned up in the bushes at the back of the Lido.

There was also a single Mistle Thrush in a treetop near the Italian Garden. But before I could get closer for a better picture ...

... it was chased away by a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

The Jays, which have been busy burying acorns, have now finished and more of them are turning up to be given peanuts.

A flight of Long-Tailed Tits passed through the trees by the Serpentine Lodge ...

... taking some Blue Tits with them.

Late afternoon sunshine brought out a couple of Common Wasps on the ivy in the lodge garden.

A Starling stared down from a kiosk at the Lido restaurant.

A Rose-Ringed Parakeet dreamed of fame.

As happened yesterday, the male Peregrine was on the barracks tower by himself for some time ...

... but in the afternoon he was joined by his mate. This picture was taken from across the lake and the football fields as I was going home.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was lying down in an effort to make the Feral Pigeons think he was asleep. He nearly succeeded in catching one.

Egyptian Geese, coming from either side of the equator, have little understanding of the northern seasons and may breed at any time of the year.

One of the teenage Mute Swans on the Serpentine looked for better grass at the top of the steep bank but decided the climb wasn't worth the effort.

A flight of Gadwalls arrived on the Long Water.

A clump of Velvet Shank mushrooms on a dead tree near the Albert Memorial. Thanks to Mario for telling me about them.

A misty start to a sunny day. A Coot chased another down the Long Water.

A young Moorhen trotted along the edge of the Serpentine. The picture shows how they bring their long toes together to avoid snagging them on the other leg.

A Great Crested Grebe charged down the lake and just about got airborne.

The restless Black Swan was back on the Round Pond.

Two pairs of Shovellers on the Long Water bobbed their heads upwards to show that each was a pair and the others had no business interfering. A Black-Headed Gull in a bad mood pointlessly attacked one of the drakes.

Bluebird Boats have been closed again by our toxic government's renewed reign of terror. A Cormorant stretched its wings on the deserted platform.

A Grey Heron, an Egyptian Goose and a Jackdaw uneasily shared the top of the Henry Moore sculpture.

The male Peregrine perched on the right side of the barracks tower ...

... and was joined by the female on the left, who as usual kept a considerable distance between them.

A picture from yesterday: Tom saw a Buzzard over the leaf yard.

A Carrion Crow enjoyed a splash in the Serpentine.

A Magpie looked down from a hawthorn in the Rose Garden.

A male Chaffinch foraged in the shrubbery near the bridge.

Above it, another preened in a holly tree.

I know we had a video of a Robin singing yesterday, but I can't resist recording their lovely song, the only birdsong we usually hear in winter. It was on the wide expanse of boggy football fields where the Crystal Palace was built for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Two more pictures by Tom: a Great Spotted Woodpecker in a cedar near the Rose Garden ...

... and a fine portrait of a Grey Wagtail in Richmond Park.

Snowdrops were out already, which seemed strange. But I was told that there is an early variety called Autumn Snow. Somehow it feels like cheating.