BIRD NEWS:246

Preen, preen, preen... The adult trumpeter swans amassed much down upon the beak, while the youths just nibbled, bit and licked. I walked around the corner towards the hide and got a few better shots. You might be able to see the feathers stuck to the adult's beak in these next shots.

Yes, as per the former swans, the adults were also wing-flapping after feather sucking. In the last of the above photos, you can see the closest adult rubbing the stuck feathers from its beak...

...before going at it again.

I wandered into a hide. The first hide had not had much activity in sight - just a few gulls and a couple of ducks, so I did not take any photos. In the second or third hide, I caught sight of a heron however - at a distance. So far distant, I circled it for clarity.

BIRD NEWS:245

Here is another shot of the group of geese swimming past from my latest trip to Arundel, mid-October. Next up, a shot of some interestingly colored ducks.

Now we are back to the Bewicks swan mentioned in my last post. On today's trip, the adult pair were busy preening. In fact, nearly all the swans I passed were participating in this activity, so I assume preening is an autumnal activity for swans. Bite the feathers, flap the wings, then bite again...

I wandered through the wildlife garden area, where last trip I encountered goldfinches munching seed and flying into the tree. I managed to creep along in my new Reebok's quite silently and slowly, and this time did not scare them from the feeder.

You can see them up to much the same as the goldfinch back home - sitting on the feeder pole munching Niger seed. I have only one regular bird at present, but it is right outside my kitchen window.

Now we move on to the trumpeter swan family. Just like their cousin swans, preening was happening.

BIRD NEWS:244

The middle Saturday of October was somewhat gloomy weather which might turn either to sunshine or rain, so I took myself to Arundel, which can be enjoyed in sun or in rain. Arundel can consist of running between hides and relaxing at the cafe if rainy, or strolling around at leisure if sunny. I was lucky and the rain held off until my bus ride home, allowing me to get some more shots of those birds that must now be familiar to regular readers of my bird blog.

So as not to bore regulars entirely, I took a few shots of info-boards. The Bewicks swan will no doubt be familiar with regulars. This trip allowed me up to 4 hours timewise, so there was no rush and I wandered along all areas and hides apart from the boat trip which was only running half-hourly today due to special talks and walks. Here are a couple of shots of the diving birds.

Next up a gang of geese were swimming past. Back home, and very little activity has gone on to my witness since I last updated you all. We still have starlings stripping the feeder of suet balls and sparrows gobbling down the seed feeder tube daily, with occasional nut-snatches from Beatie and family blue-tit, and a single goldfinch that sits and munches ravenously at the niger seed.

Mr Bob the robin is often heard chirping in the tree but the blackbirds and magpies, jay and thrushes have been ominously absent of late. Pidge occasionally arrives at seed n suet on sill time, while Ditty and partner seem to prefer the trees at the base of the yard recently.

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Another shot of the city pigeon, before moving on to another info board. This one details the eider ducks - seen in the past few blog posts both in still shots and a video. The following photo shows live examples of male and female eider.

More eider photos follow, before my latest Arundel excursion ended.

Back home, and I caught a few fuzzy shots of a blackbird taking a drink on the bird bath - alas, none of them came out clearly - but they do look rather interesting, so I decided to share them anyways.

October reached the middle of the month and before taking another excursion I spent a couple of days focused on cleaning and cookery. While cooking, I often looked through the kitchen window and saw a few comical sights at the feeder pole.

One such occasion involved a muddled starling, who sat upon the seed feeder pole but could not bend enough to reach the gap to obtain seeds. The pole is sited close to the feeding hole, enabling smaller birds like tits and sparrows easy access - but alas, our poor starling could not get a thing til he flew to the suet ball feeder instead!

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This lil fellow is so cute, whether it is roof pigeon or lake pigeon or both are the same bird!

I just took snap,

after snap,

after snap of him...

But that was not the only pigeon I spotted before leaving Arundel Wetlands Reserve on this trip - I also spotted a city pigeon standing on a fence post nearby.

Back home, and yet again there is a lack of activity in the back yard. Starlings and sparrows are in abundance, but very little else apart from the occasional wood pigeon or Mr Bob has been spotted for 2-3 days as September draws to a close. Mind you, this may be due to the fact I have recently had a sinus infection so not spent as much time standing in the kitchen cooking, hence observing the garden life.

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Yet another shot of the male eider ducks - and that pretty show pigeon! The pigeon stayed on the roof for some time and I got more than just one shot. It even looked at the camera for me - in several poses - for your viewing pleasure!

Before I finished my coffee and pigeon-watch, another show pigeon joined it upon the cafe roof.

I did not go directly home, but briefly wandered back to the lakeside for a few more shots before departing. I spotted the white show pigeon again - or did I? I am now wondering if perhaps there are two - one on the roof and one at the lakeside - as one seems to have bigger eyes and a larger beak than the other white one.

BIRD NEWS:240

Back to my Arundel trip taken mid-September. Another duck and more info boards. I wonder what might come up next...

...oh what a surprise, it is another pigeon or two with a wood duck! OOOH, looks like a mating ritual going on between show pigeon and city-racer pigeon!

Next up, male eiders. I also shot a short VIDEO of them, as they have an interesting call. Unlike the mallards, where the females do most of the 'quacking', male eiders seem to be the noisy ones!

Back home, and one morning I looked out of the window before raising the blind for the day and spotted a busy goldfinch. It was nibbling at the Niger seed Liz gave me! Later in the day it returned and spent around 5 minutes munching the seed...