BIRD NEWS:286

A duck glides by as I sip my coffee, pondering whether to go on the boat trip or head homewards after I finish the drink. The eider crowd increases, meanwhile.

In the above picture, you will see a pair of smews, an Aussie wood duck and a pair of something elses as well as another duck hiding behind the tree. This was my final photo for this excursion to Arundel.

Back home, and January's first week progressed. Garden spottings include a hungry thrush rummaging in the under-palm debris for sultanas and snails and Mr Bob fence-spotting grubs. A great tit investigated the nesting box - but I am not sure if it was for the purpose of nesting or winter shelter. Sparrows amassed on the feeder pole from time to time. This pigeon is next to appear in a shot.

Finally for today, look what I saw sitting on the feeder pole - a pigeon - and NOT a wood pigeon! I was quite excited when I saw 5-6 city pigeons on a neighbor's roof a few weeks ago but this is the first time I have spotted any of them in our yard! Hopefully word will spread about that we serve food!

BIRD NEWS:285

My second round of the reserve gave me a better chance to capture the trumpeter swan family on my camera. I was mainly going round a second time as I was hoping to find the rest of the info boards - but also not wanting another coffee quite yet.

Well there is the first board as I re-entered the cafe for my second cuppa - but where board 2 is I haven't a clue. While sipping my Americano, I got some more photographs taken - as evidence by this pair of eider duck males and the one female.

I also got a couple of shots of the smew - which may not be a regular in my posts as I haven't got any good photos previously. But here one is to show that they are there at Arundel!

BIRD NEWS:284

On my second circle, I specifically looked out for story boards concerning the 12 days of Christmas song. Just before passing a pair of pigeons, I spotted another board.

Apart from the missing number 2, I caught all boards on camera. The toads did not come out well however, due to being too frosty to read properly. Other than the story boards that regularly change, a look out board also had a new information topic - waxwings. This is a bird I have yet to see.

Back to the story boards. I found the information about the carol quite informative - I had not known that there were so many versions of the carol or that the version I knew was so connected to birds.

Ahhhh, a pigeon connection! I already knew that doves and pigeons regurgitate food in the form of milk to feed their young, as my son had informed me of this many years ago when we lived in Wollongong and had young pigeons living on the roof and next door nesting. My last photo for the post may not be easy to recognize - it is a close up shot of a female blackbird hunting in the wood chips below the pigeon signboard.

BIRD NEWS:283

Quite a lot of birds amassed in just one photo here. A mallard couple bottom left with a smaller bird above in the tree, a wood pigeon and pheasant central, blue and great tits on the feeder pole to the right...

Here you see the mallards sharing with the pigeon - while the pheasant stays in the background. A moorhen and female chaffinch replace the pigeon...

A water rail joins the mallards and female chaffinch - but gets chased away twice by the moorhen.

Eventually, I moved onwards. Regular readers may recall that next up is usually the black necked swans...and here they are!

Over on the far bank I spotted some resting ducks - either snoozing or keeping their beaks warm in the chilly frosty morn. It was still quite nippy - but I went around the reserve twice between coffees.

BIRD NEWS:282

You may just about be able to read through the frost - alas, most of the boards were covered in frost. But next up is a live moorhen! I had reached the first of the two feeder stations in the reedland walk area - the outdoor one prior to the woodland hide.

I next arrived at the woodland hide itself. There were a great tit and coal tit sitting there wanting their photos taken. There were a few blue tits around, also.

Yet another pheasant was strolling about on this trip - and decided to stand at the back of my view throughout much of today's photography session.

But the pheasant was not the star of my camera's day - as there was also a wood pigeon wandering around the woodland area. It also learned how to get seed that dropped from the feeders when smaller birds munched - just like the wood pigeons at home and the mallards at this hide.

BIRD NEWS:281

One last shot of that heron, before I move on. The trumpeter swan family were over the other side in the distance on this trip. Nearby I spotted an info board and discovered a new set of displays connected to the 12 days of Christmas carol. I managed to capture 11 of the 12 on my camera - but am not sure where number 2 was, so missed that one out. Although not all were about birds, most were.

Next, a spot of excitement - a bird of prey was circling above - it was being chased by a seagull but had a partner nearby that joined it soon after my photography.

I was of course too far away to tell for sure, and assumed it might be the peregrine falcon - although from looking at my photos it appears to be just a buzzard. I then passed another storyboard or 2.

BIRD NEWS:280

I progressed, post munch, and I spotted a pheasant couple. I then passed a male and female duck swimming with a pair of another variety on the bank.

I got a rather good shot of the Bewicks' swans this trip - with one dozing away as I strolled past. In the hide I went into next, I spotted more pheasants, ducks and a grey heron.

In fact, I took rather a lot of photos of the heron, in case it did not show clearly as it was quite distant.

A quick back home update, and by the time I did get home from my trip in the early afternoon on this occasion, I found quite a lot of activity in the back yard - the feeders' seed tube was over half way empty! There were multiple starlings and sparrows at work - and my friendly wood pigeon munching crumbs below - eyeing the sparrows patiently...