A very quiet call near the bridge drew attention to a Treecreeper.

You can't go out looking for these shy little birds. They just happen in unexpected places.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits can be heard coming from some distance away. This one was in a small olive tree next to the Lido restaurant.

The tree belongs to a Robin, and when I went past an hour later its owner was singing.

There were Mistle Thrushes looking for worms in the grass on Buck Hill.

Beside the Serpentine a Pied Wagtail was also hunting, taking no notice of the Christmas crowds bustling along the pavement.

A Great Crested Grebe was fishing beside the outflow of the Serpentine, where you can get a good view of underwater activity from the balustrade at the edge of the path.

A little group of Red-Crested Pochards at the Serpentine island added colour to a grey drizzly day.

The Black Swan, whom I had missed yesterday, was at the east end of the Serpentine. His girlfriend was nearby, but they wouldn't pose together so here he is by himself.

The speckled hybrid goose was at the Lido having a quiet moment of reflection.

In midwinter the Egyptian Geese fly around from one dead tree to another, displaying to each other and calling noisily. They nest in hollow trees, so it makes sense for them to investigate sites, and to establish their claim to one in good time.

Yesterday Andy Sunters saw two Firecrests in the shrubbery at the northeast corner of the bridge, and managed to get a picture of one. Note that it has a horizontal black stripe through each eye, unlike a Goldcrest which has an almost circular black patch around the eye.

There have been reports of Firecrests in outer London, but this may be the first one reported in the centre this year. Curiously, this is exactly the place where I saw a Firecrest myself six or seven years ago, the only one I've ever seen in the park.

In the late morning rain, a Great Spotted Woodpecker made a momentary appearance in a tree near Queen's Gate.

There were three Redwings in the trees at the top of Buck Hill. They are hard to see, and you generally find them by hearing their mild chattering.

A Nuthatch came down to take food from the railings of the leaf yard.

A Pied Wagtail was hunting in the grass near the Triangle car park. They have a peculiar high-stepping run when going through grass, rather like the action of an American trotting horse.

Just up the shore, a Grey Heron and an Egyptian Goose were having a standoff over a bit of food. The heron won, of course. You don't argue with that beak.

This is the Mute Swan on the Long Water that was attacked by a dog. He is now swimming well with his injured leg, and you can see that the wound is healing cleanly.

In the Italian Garden, a Moorhen was climbing surefootedly along the edge of the basin of the marble fountain, in spite of the steep slope, flowing water and slippery weed. Their enormous feet never seem to slip on any surface.

Near the Serpentine island, a Black-Headed Gull was playing with a bit of weed, flying up with it, dropping it and diving in after it.

The Herring Gulls' habit of playing with bits of rubble is spreading, and today there were three gulls at it. The south shore of the Serpentine is now littered with mossy bits of brick and concrete for 50 yards from its east end. The most popular game seems to be seeing how big a piece you can lift.

A very happy Christmas and a splendid New Year to all readers.

Although the berries are all gone from the rowans on Buck Hill, various kinds of thrush are still using these trees as a rendezvous. Here is a Redwing.

The little patch of gravel under the Henry Moore sculpture provides some useful grit for the Jackdaws that are now established here.

There was a Gadwall drake at the Serpentine island, the first one seen here for some time. It is rather tatty, missing a lot of feathers from its neck.

Gadwalls appear and disappear in the London parks apparently at random. They don't migrate, they just seem to wander around.

At Peter Pan, the sunlight lit up a Pochard's brilliant red eye.

The Black Swan was with his girlfriend at the east end of the Serpentine. They were enjoying a rare moment of peace.

An Egyptian Goose was having a furious wash.

As usual, several Cormorants were fishing in their usual place out in the middle of the lake near the Lido. I think this must be the place where the water is deepest. This Cormorant is leaping into the air as it dives, a technique that several species of diving bird use to make a deep dive.

Several Herring Gulls were watching, but the Cormorants swallow their fish too quickly to give them much chance of stealing one.

This Herring Gull had taken a stone out of the pile of rubble at the east end of the lake, and was carefully picking the moss off it. It didn't eat the moss, but carefully laid each little tuft on the shore.

A favourite Herring Gull game is to walk along the line of unstable buoys at the edge of the Lido swimming area trying not to tip one over and fall off.

This Black-Headed Gull is a Norwegian visitor with a green plastic ring coded JM46.

A Herring Gull on the Serpentine had found what seemed, improbably, to be a square sample of carpet.

Whatever it was, the other gulls wanted it too.

The Mistle Thrushes on Buck Hill, having run out of rowan berries, were on the grass looking for worms. This one found two in five minutes.

A Jackdaw was also successful near the Henry Moore sculpture.

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits passed by on their endless quest for insects.

A Goldcrest was with them, the first time I have seen this tiny bird hunting with the flock. It wouldn't come out to be photographed.

A Pied Wagtail was also looking for insects on a floating carpet of leaves near the Dell restaurant. It was light enough to be able to stand on the leaves without sinking them.

The hole in the oak tree northwest of the Albert Memorial, which had Little Owls in it earlier this year, was occupied by a pair of Ring-Necked Parakeets. The owls had been pushed out by Stock Doves, which the parakeets must have evicted.

The Great Crested Grebes have abandoned their silly attempt to build a nest under the willow tree near the bridge. But they are still fishing there.

The Black Swan was at the Diana fountain landing stage, passing the time by harassing the Mute Swans.

When I was coming back along the other side of the Serpentine the Black Swan saw me and came over for a second biscuit. A Carrion Crow sneaked up behind him with the intention of pulling his tail, but the swan noticed in time.

On a wet windy afternoon three Feral Pigeons were sitting on the wet tarmac near the Dell resturant, leaning to the side and holding one wing up to catch the wind. Is this a way of removing parasites?

Cormorants are still hauling up plenty of fish, usually from the bottom and entangled in weed. This one had just managed to separate the two and was about to swallow the fish and dump the salad.

You can constantly see Black-Headed Gulls flying around with little streamers of weed. They attract the attention of other gulls which try to seize the object. There must be something in the weed that is more worthwhile than the weed itself -- some kind of larva, maybe -- but it's impossible to see.

A young Herring Gull on the north shore of the Serpentine was playing with a conker.

And another was picking up a dead leaf and dropping it into the water.

The most skilled gull game is to carry up an object, drop it, and dive to catch it in midair. But I have not yet managed to get a picture of that.

The Black Swan was with his girlfriend, moving over to the Dell restaurant where some people were feeding the birds. Emboldened by his presence, she took a nip at an adult.

Actually she needs little encouragement to be aggressive. Her brother, on the other hand, is quite gentle by swan standards.

A Greylag kept a lookout while its companions were drinking in the Diana fountain. The place was almost deserted and very safe, but a flock of geese always has one bird scanning the area for possible predators.

At the Lido, a Shoveller was yawning, showing the peculiar filtration arrangements inside his enormous bill.

The Wren that visits the big planters at the Lido restaurant has become quite bold, and stands its ground when you point a camera at it. It must be used to the bustle of the restaurant on sunny days.

At the other end of the restaurant terrace, the resident Robin was singing loudly from its olive tree. It was proclaiming its ownership because there was another Robin ticking at it from the other side of the path.