A few Redwings

There were a few Redwings on Buck Hill near the Magazine, though they stayed in the tops of the horse chestnut trees and I couldn't get a good picture.

Long-Tailed Tits bustled around lower in the same tree.

A Song Thrush was singing in the big yew hedge that runs along the edge of Zaha Hadid's fungoid restaurant, but it was deep inside and there was no chance of a picture.

A Wren singing in the Flower Walk was much more obliging about being photographed.

But the Little Owl at the Round Pond was still sulking at the back of his hole, in spite of the mild sunny morning.

If he had come out he would have been disgusted to see a pair of Rose-Ringed Parakeets canoodling on the tree just round the corner from his hole.

A Jay stared intently from a nearby tree. But it's impossible to take their expressions seriously when they are looking at you over a comical Kathakali dancer's painted-on moustache.

A Grey Wagtail picked up a tiny larva on the shore near the Lido.

In the Diana fountain, which is still closed because of an 'Unpredicted Issue', a Herring Gull dancing busily to bring up worms was driven away by a disrespectful younger one, which then looked for any worms the adult had raised.

This is not the usual Black-Headed Gull EZ73323 who always sits on the same No Swimming notice. It's the next notice to the east, and the gull is a Czech one, ET05.589. It's been seen in the park before, and was here last winter. It has two perfectly good legs but had folded one up -- if it hadn't accidentally been ringed on the wrong leg I wouldn't have noticed it.

There are now two pairs of Grey Herons on the island, though at  present only one pair are making a nest, plus this one which was fishing in the Dell.

The Little Grebe in the Italian Garden pool was lurking in the irises. If I hadn't known that it liked this place I wouldn't have seen it.

A few minutes later it came out. It's now constantly hanging around the pair of Gadwalls. Originally I thought it was for cover, to protect against raiding gulls. But there were no gulls around when this was shot. So maybe the turbulence caused by the dabbling ducks is bringing up little water creatures that the grebe can catch.

The new pair of Mute Swans had come down on to the Long Water. The male, on the right here, had noticed an intruding pair farther down the lake and was about to go off to deal with them -- as he must to retain credibility with his fierce new mate, who does her own chasing.

The intruders were at the end of the gravel strip, along with a pair of Shovellers that I think are the only ones left in the park. It's odd that a group turned up in the autumn and looked as if they were going to spend the winter on the lake, but then went somewhere else. They left well before the icy spell.

Female Tufted Ducks don't have the jazzy black and white plumage of the drakes, but they have a quiet elegance.

By the time I got to the Rose Garden the sun had gone in and rain was on the way, but that didn't deter the hardy Buff-Tailed Bumblebees on the mahonia bushes. They can warm themselves up by the effort of flying and their furry bodies retain heat quite well, so they can stand lower temperatures than smaller insects.

A good way of cheering up a dank December day.

The Speke Little Owl emerges

Two Little Owls could be seen today: the female near the Speke obelisk, perfectly camouflaged in an oak ...

... and the young one by the Round Pond, still obstinately at the back of the hole in spite of the bright sunshine.

A Robin in the Flower Walk ticked irritably at another on the other side of the path, which you can also hear.

A Long-Tailed Tit clung to the underside of a twig near the Italian Garden.

The Jackdaws in the Rose Garden came out for their daily peanuts.

A Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Serpentine was prettily backlit by the low sun.

The Grey Herons' nest on the island had one bird in it ...

... while the other was taking time off gathering twigs and having a preen on a boat.

Herons, like Coots, never stop adding twigs to their nest while it's in use. This can have unfortunate consequences: a few years ago a nest of the island with three young in it got so heavy that it broke the branch it was on, and two of the three were killed.

The Black-Headed Gull at the landing stage was guarding his territory.

Usually a Moorhen can knock a Black-Headed Gull off a post simply by advancing on it, but this one refused to go. I filmed them for another full minute after this and the gull was still in place.

Another Moorhen preened on a fallen branch at Peter Pan.

The Little Grebe was preening in the Italian Garden.

It had been fishing alongside a pair of Gadwalls that it was using for cover.

Aside from these two there were another seven Gadwalls on the Long Water. We don't usually have so many, but they come and go at random from the other parks.

The new pair of Mute Swans had moved back to the Italian Garden.

They fly in but it's hard to take off from there, so they usually climb out through the marble fountain, jumping awkwardly down the steps, squeezing through the railings, and tumbling into the lake from the bowl of the fountain. I managed to film this once but it wasn't a good shot, and I must try to capture it again in more detail.

Christmas Robins

A very happy Christmas to everyone. Appropriately there were Robins all over the place. Here are just five of them.

The Little Owl at the Round Pond refused to come out of his hole for the eighth day running. Let's hope he feels like a bit of fresh air soon.

But at least there was a Treecreeper here, a bird I haven't seen for a while ...

... and a flock of Long-Tailed Tits were going through a plane tree.

A Pied Wagtail hunted along the edge of the pond, taking little notice of the Christmas Day crowds.

The tatty Blue Tit came out to be fed in the Flower Walk.

One of the Grey Herons in the nest on the island flew out to pull a twig from a neighbouring birch tree. It was quite a struggle as birch twigs are tough, but eventually it succeeded and brought it back to the nest.

The Little Grebe was still in the Italian Garden, looking as charming as usual.

It went into one of the planters to find food but was harassed by a Mallard. It wasn't seriously worried, as it's much quicker than a duck.

The new pair of Mute Swans had left the pools. Looking down the lake, you could see them begging industriously at Peter Pan.

There were a few other swans on the Long Water yesterday, but none today. Evidently the pair have been having a clear out, just as the old dominant pair used to do. The new male has slipped easily into his role as the local bully.

On the Round Pond the Black Swan disputed with a Mute teenager about a bit of bread.

As the mahonia flowers on the two bushes in the Rose Garden wither, another bush outside the fence by the Serpentine Road is coming into flower. The Buff-Tailed Bees have already noticed it and two were browsing there. This isn't a good picture, as the bush is in the shade.

Blue Tits getting bolder

Blue Tits are generally much shyer than Great Tits, and reluctant to come to your hand to take seeds. But word seems to be getting round that it's safe, and there are now three in the Flower Walk that will do this. Today one came out on the north side of the leaf yard, a place not much visited by humans.

A Robin sang cheerfully in the Flower Walk. The Robins here are quieter than the ones in the Rose Garden, as they don't have so much noise to contend with. Even when the Wasteland isn't roaring away the Rose Garden is right next to the heavy traffic at Hyde Park Corner.

The small birds in the Rose Garden are also harder to see, as they lurk in the many bushes. Today a Wren was just about visible.

A Dunnock perched in a rose bush.

As usual, the Little Owl at the Round Pond was lurking at the back of the hole. I went past again towards sunset hoping he might feel like coming out, but he was in the same place.

The Grey Herons' nest on the island is still occupied, though it's still too early to tell if the pair are serious about nesting. One bird was standing in the nest ...

... while the other was in the next tree collecting twigs.

A Cormorant under the edge of the Italian Garden dived for a fish but came up with only a beakful of leaves.

The Little Grebe was still in the fountain. It did one of those grebe wriggles.

You often see Moorhens climbing on the irises, but not usually a Coot.

The new pair of Mute Swans were preening together.

The male went under the spray of the fountain and had a mighty splash.

This Canada Goose was one of several waterfowl slurping something off the surface of the Serpentine. I couldn't see what it was. The water is quite clear now, with no floating algae. Possibly it was tiny transparent water creatures such as Daphnia water fleas.

A pair of Gadwalls feeding peacefully at the edge were chased away repeatedly by a Coot in a bad mood.

Six Buff-Tailed Bumblebees were visible in the Rose Garden, all on the two mahonia bushes. The flowers here are beginning to wither, but the hellebore will be out soon and they are happy to feed on that.