The Hobbies are still in the park, though they will be off to Africa soon. Tom and I got a distant sight of one this morning, and yesterday Virginia got fine views of them near the greenhouses.

If I read this picture rightly, it's a young Hobby just beginning to get its adult red underpants.

The male Little Owl was back in the nest tree, though it took two visits to find him.

The young Grey Wagtail was on a rock at the bottom of the Dell waterfall, here seen from the top.

A young Blackbird foraged under a tree on the lawn near the Dell.

A Robin perched on a fallen tree beside the Long Water.

A Blue Tit looked out from the leaves near the bridge.

The young Grey Herons are finally down from the nest on the island. One stood on the shore nearby.

A heron caught a small carp in the Italian Garden.

A young Herring Gull dismantled quite a large crayfish on the Mute Swans' nesting island.

A Coot pulled up a crayfish and held on to it in spite of harassment from a Black-Headed Gull and another Coot.

The Great Crested Grebe family cruised down the Long Water.

A swan in the Italian Garden saw another in the lake below and both went into a threat posture.

A strange event on the Serpentine. A female Mandarin closely followed an Egyptian Goose along the Serpentine, out of the water and up the bank. There were no other Mandarins around, so maybe it was just lonely. Update: For at least a partial explanation, see Virginia's comment below.

A Female Wigeon browsed on algae on the Long Water. We only see them occasionally in the park.

A Lesser Emperor dragonfly -- a new species for the park -- caught a Common Wasp and perched on a twig to chew it up in a leisurely way.

Tom sent a picture from Rainham Marshes of another insect, a bumblebee, falling prey to a Spotted Flycatcher ...

... and also of a Cattle Egret. The cattle at the Marshes have still not got the idea that the egrets will eat their pests, and shake the birds off when they try to land on their back.

Another hot day, probably the last one we'll see this year. A Robin stayed in the shade of the huge Caucasian Elm in the Rose Garden ...

... and a Chiffchaff sheltered in a bush.

The fruit in the rowan trees on Buck Hill is now ripe enough to interest a Mistle Thrush.

The grass on the hill is partly mown, with longer patches full of scrubby plants. This is ideal for insect-eating birds, which can walk along on the short grass looking into the long patch and reaching in to grab an insect. Here a Carrion Crow is at work, but the Mistle Thrushes do the same thing.

A Starling at the Lido restaurant waited on an umbrella for a chance to raid a table.

The Reed Warblers will be on their way to Africa soon. Ahmet Amerikali photographed this one near the bridge.

A Cormorant at the island was panting in the heat.

A Grey Heron looked down from a willow tree at the water's edge.

The two Great Crested Grebe chicks on the Long Water are now diving after their parents, though they can't stay down for long. It's the first step in learning to fish.

A grebe on the Serpentine carried a fish to feed one of the chicks, which were out of sight on the edge of the island.

One of the Moorhens in the Italian Garden fed a chick in the shade of the iris leaves.

A Mute Swan quietly feeding on the Serpentine was 70 yards away from the local dominant male. But that was enough to start him raising his wings and busking around to warn it not to come any farther into his territory.

A Greenbottle fly explored a rose.

Tom was at Rainham Marshes, where he got splendid pictures of a female Kestrel ...

... and a Yellow Wagtail.

Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water were having a territorial dispute, which is usually just a matter of threats and wary circling.

But if neither of them backs down it can turn into a fight.

It's a splashy affair but no one gets hurt.

I should have filmed this, but I had the stills camera in my hand when it broke out. However, I did film the winning pair congratulating each other afterwards and going back to their two chicks.

Ahmet Amerikali got a dramatic shot of the Black Swan being chased on the Serpentine. Any swan, black or white, can be attacked by the two aggressive dominant males, one at each end of the lake.

The Mute Swans which nested at the boat house returned to their nest, which is now ornamented with an accidental sunflower.

Red-Crested Pochard drakes still look very smart when in eclipse.

A Cormorant at the island dried its wings in the sunshine.

A Grey Heron carefully stepped across the small waterfall in the Dell.

Two herons pointedly ignored each other on top of the Henry Moore sculpture.

The trees at the southwest corner of the bridge were full of small birds as usual, but on a hot sunny day they were staying in the shade and hard to photograph. I got a Chiffchaff ...

... and Ahmet got a Blackcap sunbathing ...

... and a Goldcrest.

Cetti's Warblers tend to stay hidden in the undergrowth, so I didn't get video of this, but I thought it was interesting and am showing it with one of my still pictures. A young Cetti from the nest on the Long Water practises his adult song. When he has worked it up it will be much louder and longer. Cettis sing all the year round, though less in autumn and winter.

A Long-Tailed Tit stared seriously from a tree in the Dell.

An area near the leaf yard which was trampled into mud by people feeding the Rose-Ringed Parakeets was fenced off several months ago with a notice saying 'Ground under repair'. No human has set foot in it since and it's turning into a jungle of long grass, weeds and self-seeded trees. It's an ideal place for a fox to hang out during the daytime.

Buddleia used to be rare in the park, but once established it spreads quickly. This is good news for butterflies, which are particularly fond of it. There is a pretty bush on the island.

I couldn't find a Little Owl today, but here is one in Richmond Park photographed by Tom.

Yesterday I distantly heard a female Little Owl calling on Buck Hill. Today she was calling from a lime tree near the Italian Garden. I wonder whether she is the owlet hatched here a couple of years ago.

The male Little Owl near the Speke obelisk was in the chestnut tree where I saw the female yesterday.

A Wren was making a fuss in the brambles underneath, but this may not have been at the owl as I couldn't find him till a second visit.

A Chiffchaff searched for insects among unripe holly berries in the tree near the bridge.

The female Peregrine was on the tower.

A Feral Pigeon sunbathed at a dangerous angle on the roof of one of the small boathouses.

A Grey Heron was also enjoying the sun at the Vista.

A heron in a fountain in the Dell caught two small carp. A Coot chick wisely kept its distance.

A young Herring Gull that had caught a crayfish dodged an attempt to grab it, removed the claws to make it easier to swallow, and then decided to play with it before eating it. This went on for quite a time. I didn't wait to see when the gull finally got bored and swallowed it.

The teenage Great Crested Grebe on the Serpentine flapped its wings. I haven't yet seen it trying to fly.

The two younger grebe chicks are now quite large. Each one has one parent to feed it.

A young Moorhen sifted through the algae on the Long Water looking for small edible creatures.

Another snail, a very small one, had climbed to the top of the spiked railings. I just don't see the attraction of these lumps of iron.

The Turkish hazelnut trees between Peter Pan and the Italian Garden have produced some huge nut clusters.

Paul is lucky enough to live in a part of London that still has House Sparrows, but it does mean that he is getting through industrial quantities of birdseed in his feeders.

Tom was at Rainham and got a picture of a Wheatear. I haven't seen one in the park for years.