Blackbirds in decline

Blackbirds are sadly few in the park these days, so it was good to see the pair from the Rose Garden shrubbery in a tree. This is the male.

There's also a pair in the Dell. Both bred successfully this year, but somehow the population never seems to rise.

There's no shortage of Chaffinches, though. This male is one of a pair often seen near the Little Owls' tree at the Round Pond.

The owl herself was staying in her hole, no wonder on a dank chilly day.

A Pied Wagtail looked for insects in the stinking mess on the gravel strip.

As usual several Robins were singing in the Rose Garden. This one is in the thicket of climbing roses. There was an ugly sawn-off tree here about six feet high, so the gardeners planted roses to hide it, of a very vigorous more or less wild variety that has spread into a huge tangle.

The Rose Garden Robins seem to be a fairly peaceful lot, unlike the dominant one in the Flower Walk which attacks every small bird it sees.

A Magpie perched in the brown leaves of an English oak. Young oaks and beeches keep their dead leaves over the winter but shed them when they grow larger, an adaptation that may help save big trees from being damaged in gales.

The female Peregrine was on the tower for a short time around 2 pm, but had flown off by the time I got round to there. However, Tom sent a fine picture of a Peregrine flying at Rainham a few days ago ...

... and the familiar Barn Owl at Rainham that has a box in a secluded tree and can be seen most evenings when it comes out to hunt.

The Grey Heron on the island had come down from the nest it claims and was standing on the shore. There were no rivals in sight, and no sign of a mate either. This bird's beak and legs are turning pink, a sign of being in breeding condition. It may be the one with a very bright beak that nested unsuccessfully last year in a tree only a few feet from its present place.

A young Herring Gull looked for something to play with but rejected a leaf, a stone and a stick and wandered off. Another was amused for a while by a larger leaf. What they like most is things that roll. A tennis ball is much enjoyed, and quite easy to find as people throw them for their dogs and the dogs don't find them. Small glass bottles that make a tinkling sound are also very popular.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was lunching at the Dell restaurant.

The young Great Crested Grebe was fishing with its mother, an arrangement that benefits both as fish fleeing from one bird my come within reach of the other.

Cormorants perched on the remains of the fallen horse chestnut tree in the Long Water, with Shovellers feeding underneath. The very large tree fell into the lake about 15 years ago and most of it has now rotted away.

The gang of five teenage Mute Swans saw someone feeding the birds at the Triangle car park and joined the crowd converging on the spot.

A pair of Egyptian Geese displayed noisily on a dead tree near the Serpentine Gallery. They do this most in winter, claiming territory before they start nesting. The tree where they display is usually not the one they nest in. A tree with a sawn-off top makes a good display platform, but they need one with a large hole for a nest.

Rainy day

A view down the Long Water in dim winter weather.

A Carrion Crow stared at one of the worn Westbourne nymphs.

Heavy rain and thunder in the early afternoon made the day more interesting. During the worst of it a Great Tit in the Rose Garden was preening imperturbably. It was practically dark when I filmed this, so the quality isn't good.

A Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Serpentine wasn't worried either.

The Grey Heron claiming a nest on the island stood stolidly in place.

The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was in his usual spot with raindrops bouncing off his head, but the pigeons were sheltering under the canopy of the Dell restaurant.

A Black-Headed Gull waited hopefully on a bollard in front of the brightly lit counter of the Triangle snack bar. Usually it's a good place to find dropped food, but not when all the customers are sheltering.

The rain gradually abated. A young heron on the landing stage took the advantage of wet feathers to have a preen.

The pair of Egyptian Geese from the Italian Garden investigated a puddle, maybe hoping to find worms floating to the surface.

The young Great Crested Grebe was fishing at Fisherman's Keep. It is catching fish, but so far I haven't been lucky enough to get the moment on film.

A dive from the previous video shown at one-tenth speed.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond stayed at the back of the hole.

During a drier interval, the pair of Song Thrushes by the Henry Moore sculpture emerged from the bushes and flew up Buck Hill.

A pair of Magpies conversed on a branch by the path at the bottom of the hill.

Small birds clustered in a tree by the Albert Memorial, including a Coal Tit ...

... a Blue Tit ...

... and a Robin.

Through the hedge

The dominant Robin in the Flower Walk emerged from the middle of a yew hedge. There were no other small birds around for him to bully, so he enjoyed a leisurely meal on my hand, taking seven pine nuts.

The Robin by the Henry Moore sculpture also came to my hand.

The Robins in the Rose Garden are much more wary of people, and often don't even take pine nuts off the ground. It's a busy place and at the moment very noisy, with the funfair going full blast next to it and the frequent police sirens from Hyde Park Corner. You have to wait for a silent moment before you can shoot a video.

A pair of agile Great Tits leapt about in a tangle of climbing roses.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond wasn't visible in the morning, but she came out to the front of her hole in the afternoon.

I managed to get this picture, taken straight into the sun, by standing in the shadow of the tree. I'm surprised it came out so well -- I haven't even had to adjust the lighting or colour. There must have been a lot of back reflection from the sunlit grass, as you can see that the owl's pupils are quite contracted although she's in complete shade.

A Magpie glowed in the low winter afternoon sunlight.

There were quite a few people on the Lido restaurant terrace, so the Starlings had turned up to scavenge.

It was a surprise to see a Jackdaw on a tarpaulin-covered rowing boat moored in the middle of the Serpentine.

The Grey Wagtail was running along the edge of the lake.

A female Pied Wagtail hunted on the grass beside the Round Pond.

A Lesser Black-Backed Gull, despite its powerful beak, had difficulty pecking bits off a chunk of remarkably tough meat. I was wondering what it was, and decided it must be a discarded lump of doner kebab from a stall at the Winter Wasteland.

The Black-Headed Gull had regained dominance of the landing stage.

Some of the other gulls are now beginning to get their dark heads, so he won't be as conspicuous soon.

The old Grey Heron came down to the gravel strip on the Long Water.

A Moorhen cruised through fallen leaves below the Italian Garden ...

... and one of the four young ones was eating grass at the edge of the garden.

The sunshine brought out the colours of the Shovellers feeding at the Vista.

Word gets out among the Wood Pigeons

It was a drizzly morning but it gradually cleared up and there were even some sunny spells in the afternoon. The wind had dropped and the Grey Heron claiming a nest on the island was back in place. There's no sign of it having a mate here.

Another looked ornamental on a post in the reed bed by the Vista.

The Black-Headed Gull on the landing stage came ashore to chase another gull out of its territory ...

... but was then ousted itself by a Herring Gull landing in the corner where it likes to stand.

A Black-Headed Gull on a post at Peter Pan looked down apprehensively at a Moorhen that looked as if it was about to jump up and knock it off.

The young Great Crested Grebe on the Serpentine is mostly fishing for itself, but it still goes off from time to time to pester its parents and they are still feeding it occasionally. It's going to have to fend for itself soon, a testing time for young grebes -- but this one seems active and energetic and I've seen it catching a fish.

I don't think we need to worry about the young Mute Swan that flew in from Regent's Park. It was in its usual place by the Dell restaurant stamping around aggressively, and the other swans were leaving it alone. But all these swans have to stay at the eastern end of the lake to avoid the killer swan, who is now spending most of this time near his old nest site east of the Lido.

The single swan in the Italian Garden is also safe as long as it stays there. If it wants to come down to the Long Water and fly out, it will have to do this when the killer is on the far side of the bridge.

The Wood Pigeon eating flowers in the berberis bush in the Rose Garden that I filmed yesterday must have told its friends about it, as today there were six of them.

A Robin sang in the Rose Garden, still slightly rain-spattered.

Another near the Italian Garden was ticking irritably at a Jay and a Magpie in nearby trees ...

... which both followed me all the way to the Round Pond demanding peanuts ...

... along with four Great Tits that also wanted feeding.

The Little Owl, who had been huddled at the bottom of her hole during the morning rain, came out to the edge. You have to photograph her from an angle at this time of day, as if you stand square on to the hole the low sun is shining directly into the camera.

Snowdrops have come out in the scrubby ground at the east end of the Serpentine.

Windy day

Although the Round Pond is not very large it's in an exposed place on a hill with no trees close to the edge, and it gets quite rough when there's a strong wind. The Black Swan was tossed around as he swam up the shore.

He went off with a friend, who seems to be male. Usually he pursues females and a male would be seen only as a rival, but the Round Pond is chock full of swans that have taken refuge from the killer swan on the lake, and the usual rivalries have broken down and things are fairly peaceful by swan standards.

The Long Water is sheltered by trees and never gets rough, but it was stirred into sharp little ripples by the west wind blasting down the gap at the Vista. Shovellers fed and a Pochard in the background did the little leap that diving ducks make to help them submerge.

The reed bed at the Diana memorial fountain thrashed around in the wind.

A Moorhen walked up the edge of the Serpentine and launched into the choppy waves.

The Grey Heron that has been occupying a nest site on the island didn't like the tree swaying in the wind, and came down on to the shore.

Three Egyptian Geese stood together head to wind to avoid getting too ruffled.

The single very pale Great Crested Grebe that arrived during the frosty weather is still here, and was fishing under the bridge.

Back at the Round Pond, the Little Owl looked out of her tree ...

... and a Jackdaw perched on one of its branches.

A Pied Wagtail was hunting on the gravel strip. The gravel is thickly coated with swan droppings and smells abominable, but this attracts plenty of insects for the bird to catch.

The Grey Wagtail was on a rock by the Dell stream.

A Magpie perched on a stump beside the Long Water, with yellow gorse flowers in the background.

In the Rose Garden a Wood Pigeon was eating the flowers of a berberis bush.

A Robin sang in the afternoon sunlight ...

... and another perched on a high twig.