Monday 30 June 2014

The Great Crested Grebes' nest on the east end of the island is going ahead. It is hard to see from the shore, but Mateusz at Bluebird Boats very kindly took me out in a boat and we managed to find the one place from which you can get a reasonable view.


The Coots at Peter Pan now have four chicks, but it remains to be seen whether any of them will survive the circling gulls.


If you think that was a silly place to build a nest, look at this picture.


A pair of Coots have in the middle of the lake, in front of the Henry Moore sculpture whose reflection you can see here. I think the nest is just drifting freely, and who knows where it will end up.

The Coots nesting in the reeds in the Italian Garden have four chicks too, though I only managed to see two of them. But enough pictures of Coots -- here are two new Mallard ducklings in the Italian Garden, also in danger and their number certainly much reduced from the original brood.


The Moorhens in the Italian Garden seem to have lost all their chicks, and were nesting again. Here the male walks nimbly along the top of the wire netting to bring his mate a reed stem.


This is a less good place than their last nest, far too open. The last one was invisible, which is how a Moorhen's nest should be.

More young birds: this Nuthatch fledgeling was chasing its parent along the branch of an oak tree near the leaf yard.


And a Carrion Crow has a brief moment of quiet with its half-grown youngster before the clamour for food starts up again.


We couldn't find the Tawny Owlets, but at least the Little Owl was in his usual tree.

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