The Pied Wagtails had returned to the Parade Ground, from which they had been frightened away by the concert, and there were at least a dozen running around in the brown flattened grass where the sheds had been. This surface suits them well, as there are fewer grass blades to impede them as they sprint after insects.

One of the running birds turned out to be a Wheatear, probably not the same as the one seen here a few weeks ago, but another migrant on its way south.

I think this is a first-year bird. Adult females have less detail in the pattern on the wrist joint of their wings.

One of the local Peregrines was on its usual daytime perch on the tower of the Metropole Hilton Hotel. It was nearly 300 ft up, and you would have needed a lens the size of a town drain to get a sharp picture of it.

In a tree near the Henry Moore sculpture, a Blue Tit had caught a moth. It found this twig too thin, and carried its prey to a thicker one where it could peck at it more comfortably.

One of the Great Crested Grebe chicks on the Long Water was having a vigorous wash.

The female Little Owl was in the same tree as she has been in the past few days, the chestnut next to the nest tree. She had moved to a new perch but I got a picture of her from the west side of the tree.

And, thanks to more detailed instructions from Mario (see yesterday's comments), I found the Chicken of the Woods, a large and beautiful fungus.

As for yesterday's mystery fungus, both Mario and Kish Woolmore reckon that it's a Beefsteak Fungus, Fistulina hepatica. Geoff at Wild Mushrooms Online thinks it's a Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus, and also says that its shape is distorted by the recent dry weather so that you can only see a very little of the upper surface -- which would apply to both identifications.

The elusive Little Grebe appeared again on the Long Water. It was trying to fish under the willow tree near the Italian Garden, but its space was invaded by two adult Great Crested Grebes and two chicks, and a Cormorant, so it rapidly retreated into the middle of the lake, too far away for a good picture.

The Great Crested Grebe chicks were practising their adult dance, and one of them had found a plastic bottle cap and was waving it at the other.

The basic moves seem to be hard-wired into a grebe's brain, but when they grow up and find mates they will have to practise together to get the ceremony right.

One of the Green Woodpeckers who are long-term residents of Buck Hill came out into the grass to look for insects, which the recent mowing has made easier to find. It was so busy that it took no notice of four people starting at it, which is most unusual for these shy birds.

As I approached the Little Owls' trees there was a cry of owl fury and one of the birds rushed through the leaves. It had been annoyed by a Jay. I gave the Jay a peanut, which it took away, and waited for the owl to settle down. After a few minutes it reappeared in the tree next to the nest tree; it was the male, so he calmly allowed me to take pictures.

There were still quite a few dragonflies around the willow tree, and in fact they were in the place where the Little Grebe first appeared, so it may have been trying to catch them as they flew low over the water, which is something that Little Grebes are surprisingly good at. Here is a Common Darter resting on a grass stem ...

... and an Emperor. Both are brightly coloured males.

In the tunnel under the north side of the bridge, a Garden Spider had caught a wasp from the nearby nest and was slowly eating it.

Mario the fungus expert had written a comment on this blog about a large yellow Chicken of the Woods fungus on a tree near Lancaster Gate. Three people went to look for it in the place he described, but we didn't find it -- possibly someone had read the blog and collected it. But we did find a different large bracket fungus about a foot wide. I don't know what it is.

A Magpie had evicted the Mistle Thrushes from the most heavily laden of the rowan trees on Buck Hill and was enjoying the berries.

In the yew tree near the bridge, a Song Thrush intent on eating berries was holding on tight as the thin twig it was on swayed wildly in the wind.

The female Shoveller now has a shovelling companion, and they were happily making circles round each other under the bushes near Peter Pan. The turbulence of each one's wake brings up little creatures for the other to scoop up.

The eldest of the young Great Crested Grebes -- the one from the west end of the island -- has now grown a neat little black crest.

Two grebe chicks on the Long Water had wandered off and their mother was swimming around calling for them with a fish in her beak.

The seven Mallard ducklings are still keeping close to their mother, and she is watching warily for danger while they sleep on the edge of the Serpentine. You can see why she has been so unusually successful in keeping her whole brood alive.

I made two visits to the Little Owls' tree without seeing either of them and was about to give up when the female owl suddenly appeared behind a Wood Pigeon and stared intently at me for a few seconds before moving to a more private spot.

One of the Great Crested Grebe chicks was amusing itself on the Serpentine by diving and hauling up bits of weed from the bottom. They might have had food in or not, but anyway it is useful practice for a young bird.

Tiring of this, it thought it would be fun to chase some ducks. The seven young Mallards were there in a bunch, an easy target.

When these had been scattered, it went for the solitary female Shoveller, under water. She fled in panic.

One of the Hobbies appeared over the Serpentine, coming from the direction of 'Number One Hyde Park', which is the vainglorious name of the new blocks of flats for the mega-rich near Knightsbridge Tube station. These tall buildings would be an attractive perch for them.

On the chains near Peter Pan, a Cormorant was working its way up before trying to jump on to the post. They have some difficulty in getting on to these posts, which are too small for them to land on directly.

The male Little Owl appeared briefly in the chestnut tree next to the couple's nest tree.

While I was there, four Jackdaws flew over in a close group, calling to each other. Two pairs of Jackdaws were a familiar sight earlier this year near the Tawny Owls' nest tree, but at least one pair  moved towards the southwest corner of the park and were seldom seen after that. Now it looks as if they have a family, a welcome addition.

The Mistle Thrushes were back in the rowan tree on Buck Hill.

They chased out a Magpie, a bird for which Mistle Thrushes have an intense dislike.

There are many Robins in the leaf yard, singing loudly and shooing each other out of their winter territories.

The long grass on Buck Hill has had its annual mowing. This has exposed plenty of insects, and at the same time has allowed the Mistle Thrushes to hop around in the area, which was previously difficult for them to move in. So there were a lot of them, hard at work.

For a change, the female Little Owl was in the chestnut tree nest to the nest tree. She is bigger than her mate, and her pale eyebrows are less prominent. She was as shy as usual and I only got one reasonable picture before she flew into an invisible place.

The three young Mallards from the Italian Garden had taken over the deserted Coot's nest at Peter Pan. Just after I took this picture a Cormorant heaved itself on to the post above the nest and frightened them off.

The Mallard drakes are recovering their splendour. You can see the iridescent green head feathers growing through the dull eclipse plumage.

Two Great Crested Grebe chicks came close inshore at Peter Pan and played in the shallow water. They are always fascinated by the green slime on the posts, but if this contains any edible creatures they are too small to see.

They dived and raced about in the shallow water, alarming the ducks.

This is a stand of honey fungus, Armillaria mellea, which grows around dead or dying trees. Its mycelium -- the tangle of underground threads that is the main part of the organism -- lives on rotting wood.

This fungus sometimes forms the fairy rings in the grass here, rather than the classic fairy ring mushroom Marasmius oreades. Both species are edible, but not very interesting.

Update: Mario, the park's mushroom expert, disagrees about the mushrooms in the rings -- see comments below. M. oreades is small, with a thin tough ringless stem, beige above, paler below, with a boss in the middle of the cap and, underneath, alternate long and short gills. I will try to photograph mushrooms from rings when I can find some that have reached a recognisable size without being mown or strimmed.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes got a nasty surprise near the bridge when a Cormorant surfaced under one of them.

They both yelled defiance at it ...

... annoying the Cormorant, so that it chased them off.

Luckily their chick was at a distance, out of harm's way. After this altercation both parties swam off in opposite directions.

The winter migrant Pochards always congregate in the same place on the Long Water, under the overhanging trees near the bridge. There are a couple of Red Crested Pochards with them, which are considerably larger and not closely related -- and a quite recently introduced species.

The Heron at the Dell restaurant was standing on a post on the edge, waiting for someone to quit a table so that it could grab their leftovers.

The staff at the restaurant, used to Feral Pigeons doing the same thing, are very quick to clear up the plates.

The solitary young Moorhen at Peter Pan was standing up tall to look over a chain.

The male Little Owl was again in the chestnut tree next to his nest tree.

He would not take any notice of me, but then a couple of friends arrived and he looked down at us talking.

The Blue Tits in the leaf yard are looking particularly fine in their fresh blue and yellow feathers.

The Hobbies are still here. All four of them flew high over the Long Water, calling. A Carrion Crow -- we think it was Charlie -- had been chased by a Herring Gull and, feeling disgruntled, flew up and had a go at one of the Hobbies. This is a bad picture taken from too far away, but it captures a moment.

There is a lone female Shoveller on the Long Water, the first of the winter arrivals of this species. Here she is having just done a bit of shovelling, and is draining the water out of her bill to leave whatever tiny creatures she has caught in its unique convoluted interior.

One of the young Mandarins was at the Vista. Its wings are still not quite fully grown, although the tips of the primaries are now crossing above its tail.

The seven young Mallards from near the bridge, which have amazingly all survived, were at Peter Pan, enjoying a brawl with a Moorhen and a Black-Headed Gull which had come to snatch the food they were being give,

The largest of the Great Crested Grebe chicks is now as large as its parents, though it still hasn't grown its wings large enough to be able to fly.

It can now be brought adult-sized fish, which saves the parents trouble.

The male Little Owl was at first in the chestnut tree next to the nest tree with only his lower half showing through the leaves, but soon afterwards he emerged to a more open position.