You
should spot that several eider ducks appear to have accumulated again
- after a few months on invisibility. there are of course plenty of
other ducks and geese in the cafe-side lake. After my coffee, I took
a leisurely stroll clockwise around the reserve, then anticlockwise
around it. The first birds of interest to me personally were the
Emperor geese and Red-breasted geese who were hanging out along with
a mute swan.
On
this trip, I did not spot an actual kingfisher - only an info board
about them. However, I should not be disappointed - I did make 5
sightings on my previous trip. One of my favorite birds at Arundel
WWT are the swans - and here I took a shot of the young Bewicks. Once
again, only one parent of the two with the 4 young - I have yet to
discover what became of the missing parent.(Since writing the blog, i have learned the fate of the missing parent - the father swan became ill and died)
This
one youth seems to like me - I recall on my former trip it stood
nearby looking at me - and here it is again! Perhaps it realizes I
like swans in particular - and pigeons...
You
can maybe make out the marks on its beak? It is somewhat less than a
year of age, but its beak is starting to turn from child to adult in
color. When it is fully adult, the black and yellow pattern will
allow it to be distinguished from its siblings and other bewick swans
- but I think I will know this swan as an individual by the way it
stares at me.
Those are some giant pictures of the friendly swan!
ReplyDeleteI'm sad about the father swan. I had a bad feeling when he was missing, but I'm sorry to hear it confirmed.
yes it is sad....but at least they have found a new potential mate ofr the mom - and when the cygnets are removed in spring maybe the new partnership will take off....i will keep you photographed when that happens - next visit due late Jan.
ReplyDeleteGood, maybe there will be new cygnets soon.
ReplyDelete