A Grey Heron perched in a tree directly in front of the upper nest on the island , which is more or less invisible from the ground. But you can hear the clattering call of a chick in the nest demanding to be fed.

Here is a distant view of the nest from the side. You can only see anything at all when one of the birds stands up, and so far I've only seen fleeting glimpses of adults.

It was a very quiet day in the park, and there wasn't anything new to see. The Great Crested Grebes at the island have abandoned their attempt to rebuild their nest on the basket, and were relaxing with the two chicks.

The Coot nesting under the balcony of the Dell restaurant obstinately stayed sitting down, and only one of the chicks was visible.

Looking from the bridge, you can see that the Coot nest on the netting covering the raft is now quite a large structure.

But it's not well placed, because as soon as the chicks go into the water they won't be able to get up again.

Usually when Coots nest in really idiotic places, such as on the open edge of the lake, they give up quite soon. But this nest on the edge of the Serpentine has been here for more than a week, and is quite large.

The Mute Swan on the Long Water was with her cygnets on the little island where she nested.

The swan mother on the Serpentine wasn't doing anything remarkable, but looked elegant cruising with her cygnets in tow.

One of the pairs of Canada Geese took their goslings to the Lido restuarant to tout for food from the diners.

The three Greylag families were together on the south side of the Serpentine.

Egyptian families can't get close together, because they are territorial and aggressive. There was one on the north side of the Serpentine ...

... one on the south side ...

...  and one by the bridge. This is the family with the blond father, and two of the goslings going to be blond adults if they manage to escape the gulls -- but that's a big if.

The blonde female Mallard was preening. You can see that the secondary feathers of her wings are brown instead of the iridescent blue of normal Mallards.

A Male Pied Wagtail on the Serpentine took time off from hunting insects to indulge in a bit of song.

Just as I arrived  at the Little Owls' tree near the leaf yard, a Magpie forced the male owl off his perch and he flew into the adjacent chestnut tree.

He intended to land on this branch, but a Wood Pigeon was sitting stolidly on it and he had to swerve off at the last moment.

This is the first picture of the white-faced Blackbird with a fledgling, seen indistinctly deep in the shrubbery. Both she and her mate came out several times to collect sultanas for the brood.

In the same bush there was also a female Great Tit, slightly tatty fom nesting, who came out again and again to collect pine nuts for her young.

One of the Grey Wagtails nesting under the little plank bridge at the foot of the Dell waterfall was flying off a rock to catch insects for its young.

Here is a view of the same rock taken from the top of the waterfall. The wagtail has collected a beakful of insects.

This is the kind of insect it is feeding on, a chironomid midge, of which there are millions in the park.

The male Little Owl near the leaf yard was preening.

There's another new brood of Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine near Bluebird Boats. One of the chicks was trying to climb on to its mother's back.

Eventually it managed.

And there's yet another new Egyptian family on the other side of the lake.

The Egyptians at the Triangle car park, which can't get to a patch of grass during the day, were eating various small plants in the shrubbery.

No change in the number of Greylag goslings ...

... or Canada goslings.

The Mute Swans on the Serpentine still have five cygnets. Virginia told me that when she first saw them several days ago there were six.

I couldn't find the swan family on the Long Water, which must have been under a bush somewhere.

If you are a Coot and a swan wants to stand on your nest, you have no option but to give in.

The Coot nest under the Dell restaurant balcony now has two chicks in it. There are still 11 eggs waiting to hatch.

The Great Crested Grebes at the island are trying to nest again. However, they have let the Coot nest they stole fall to pieces and are unlikely to be able to mend it -- which is good news for their half-grown chicks.

Tom sent this interesting picture of a pair of Gadwalls mating. They are gentler ducks than Mallards, where the drake would have grabbed his mate by the scruff of the neck to stop her from escaping.

A Long-Tailed Tit preened in a tree near the bridge. This is the only time when they stay in the same place for more than a couple of seconds, and can be filmed.

The male Little Owl near the leaf yard was in his usual tree, but again in a new place. He's quite hard to find now.

A Mistle Thrush near the Physical Energy statue pulled up a worm to take to its nestlings.

A Grey Heron preened on the edge of a patch of long grass, waiting for the rustle of a passing rat. The herons in the park spend almost as much time on land looking for rats as they do in the water hunting fish.

The Moorhen nesting in the hawthorn tree on the Dell restaurant terrace could just be seen climbing about in the branches.

The Coots on the nest under the restaurant balcony have their first chick. There are still twelve eggs to hatch.

The pair nesting on the buoys at the Lido lost their nest, perhaps hit by a passing pedalo, but have rebuilt it larger and stronger.

The two Great Crested Grebe chicks could be seen at the island.

A new family of Mute Swans with five cygnets has appeared on the Serpentine. The nest was in the middle of the island, and it was impossible to see what was going on.

But I could only see four cygnets with their mother at Peter Pan. The other one might have been behind a tree or with its father, so it's too early to give it up.

There is a third family of Canada Geese, with four goslings. The gander is very protective, chasing off other Canadas (which are no threat) and even making a Mute Swan back off.

The largest Canada brood of fifteen is still intact.

Their mother was startled by a Great Crested Grebe yelling at her, and turned back for a moment.

The three Greylag families, with nine, six and four goslings, grazed under the trees on the south bank of the Serpentine.

The Egyptian Geese near the bridge still have five young. There doesn't seem to be much to eat in this place next to a car park, with the nearest patch of grass 50 yards away.

There is another brood of Greylag Geese, nine goslings. Their parents took them to be with the other two broods of six and four at the Lido. They approached in a slightly threatening posture -- 'Let me in or else.' But they were accepted, and all grazed peacefully.

All the Canada goslings were at the Lido too.

This pair of Egyptian Geese, of which the male has a blond head, have taken to nesting near the Triangle car park next to the bridge. It's not a good place, far too exposed, and they have never succeeded in keeping their young alive. But the male busily chased off a larger goose, a Canada--Greylag hybrid of which there are several in the park.

But Blondie is the blondest of them all. She was preening her ash-grey wings at the far end of the Serpentine.

The Mute Swan family were eating the algae that has grown on the Long Water as a result of the recent warm weather. It's remarkable how the cygnets manage to grow on a diet of this soggy stuff.

The Great Crested Grebes like the algae for another reason. It shelters fish, which the agile grebes can easily catch by dodging amid the strands.

One of the grebe chicks at the island washed and preened and flapped its little wings. The chicks have fairly well developed wings when they hatch, and use them like arms for crawling up on to their parent's back.

The older Coot chicks have now outgrown their peculiar red and yellow heads, and are becoming grey and white.

The net put over the tern raft to prevent birds (including terns, of course) has not been effective. A pair of Coots have simply nested on top of it.

Both the Grey Herons on the lower nest were preening. But I am fairly sure that this nest is no longer active.

A heron stood on an urn in the Italian Garden ...

... in a pose recalling the Doubtful Guest in Edward Gorey's finely creepy book.

A Carrion Crow posed in a tree, doing its best to look fluffy and adorable.

This very brief clip shows  a Mistle Thrush flying low over the head of a Carrion Crow that has come too near its nest.

A Pied Wagtail searched for insects in the debris washed up on the edge of the Serpentine.

There was a Grey Wagtail at the Dell restaurant again. They are certainly nesting under the little plank bridge in the Dell.

Julia got this year's first picture of a young Long-Tailed Tit. It was near the Serpentine bridge.

The male Little Owl near the leaf yard was more visible today. He looked over his shoulder because some crows were squabbling on the ground.

The male Great Crested Grebe at the island washed and shook himself down, then went to visit his mate and the chicks and they had a long greeting ceremony.

The pair at the east end of the Serpentine have been encouraged by seeing the chicks and are thinkig of nesting themselves. One brandished a bit of algae at the other ...

... and brought a large stick. They examined a possible place at the edge of the reed bed.

When they dropped the stick, a Coot came and took it to the nest at the Serpentine outflow.

A Coot on the Serpentine kept pecking one of its chicks out of the way. It was the smallest one, and I thought it was being persecuted, but later I saw the same Coot pecking a different chick, so I suppose it was just exasperated by their incessant demands for food. Meanwhile a Lesser Black-Backed Gull was approaching hungrily, and both parents chased it off.

The recent warm weather has caused a bloom of algae at the north end of the Long Water, but the local Coot family don't mind.

It was also brought out an enormous number of midges. The Mallard with one duckling at the Vista was catching them efficiently, and the duckling was doing quite well too.

The Mute Swan family had come up to the Vista, and the female was looking after the cygnets under a tree while her mate chased off some low-ranking swans.

All was well with the two Canada Goose families on the Serpentine. This is all 15 of the larger brood in a heap togther.

When a dog approached, their parents led them into the water.

The two pairs of Greylags and their goslings were just along the shore.

A Moorhen with nothing better to do nattered quietly in a reed bed.

Grey Herons and Carrion Crows don't get along with each other, and neither do herons with other herons.

Mistle Thrushes really hate crows, which try to eat their young. This one near the Physical Energy statue was scolding a crow on the ground below.

At the Dell restaurant, a Starling waited in the hawthorn tree for a chance to grab some food off a table.

The male Little Owl at the leaf yard was exceptionally well hidden in his chestnut tree, and I could only get a small glimpse of him. But it was good to know he was ther.