Monday 26 May 2014

A pair of Greylag Geese have just one gosling, the only one on the lake so far this year.


They are looking after this precious survivor very carefully. Newly hatched Greylag goslings are less yellow than Canadas.


The two Coot chicks from the nest in the wire baskets on the edge of the island are now quite well grown, and are feeding themselves. Here one tries to eat part of a crayfish, without much success.


I couldn't find any of the owls, Tawny or Little, today. They were probably only a few yards away, but finding them in the thick foliage is now very difficult.

As a compensation there were good views of several Nuthatches in the leaf yard.


They are now almost fearless with people -- at least, if the people are offering them food. But I haven't yet managed to entice one of them down to feed from my hand.

Some of the Egyptian Geese are moulting their wing feathers. Here you can see the new feathers emerging in their blue wrappings.


They don't have a fixed a schedule for this as the large geese do. Both Greylag and Canada Geese change their wing feathers in June, and suddenly the whole population is flightless. It's a dangerous time, and they need to stay close to the lake so that they can rush into the water if someone lets a dog loose near them.

A pair of Red Crested Pochards were passing the time on a dull drizzly day by having a good preen.



This species originated in southern Europe, but is now breeding in this country and is regarded as resident. They have successfully bred in the park only once, in 2012, when they managed to bring up three young.

1 comment:

  1. What beautiful markings the male RC Pochard has on his feet! I had never noticed - or perhaps seen - these before. Thank you

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