We left Borde Hills Gardens and proceeded to Leonardslee. I spotted a Canada Goose with young on a mini island.
I think we counted 6 chicks.
That was the end of that excursion. It has been a while since I shared Naboo videos - so here are 4 more for you to enjoy to end today's post.
Here is another of the twig bird sculptures at Wakehurst Place.
My next picture is from the next Saturday's excursion - where we began our rambles at Borde Hill Gardens, before a brief trot round Leonardslee.
We found a giant bird sculpture on the lawns soon after entering. It was not long before we found more sculpted birdlife - a pair of pelicans on the Italian gardens' pond.
I took different shots from different angles.
Well, 3....
I then discovered stone ducks hiding by a doorway.
We stopped for our picnic lunch, overlooking a field - in which we spotted a pheasant meandering.
The nuthatch is back....and the pheasant is losing a tail feather.
As we wandered around, we spotted a nesting Canada Goose. Meanwhile, as we roamed the woodland, we spotted a twig-bird in the trees.
It was an owl, made entirely of sticks.
Further around the woodland walk, we found a nest with eggs.
There was another bird further around - a treecreeper.
I took it from different angles.
There were lots of twig sculptures - some of which I have probably photographed previously - but some were new.
A nuthatch feasts in the tray while a male pheasant nibbles on the ground below. Then the pheasant figures out where the good seed is!
Munch munch munch...one greedy pheasant!
Meanwhile, the nuthatch gives up and flies away.
Whilst the greedy male pheasant munches on, still.
Still it eats...but looks towards us as if saying 'keep them away' as a chaffinch watches him and another male pheasant appears on the scene.
There is to be no escape from mr pheasant 2 for mr pheasant 1.
But I will give you a short break from them by sharing a shot of Naboo hiding behind his mirror in 2023.
Our next excursion was to Wakehurst Place to enjoy the spring colors. But first, here is a shot of poor Pidge - a bedraggled pigeon with a broken beak. It appears that the lower half has bent to one side and the end chipped off. He was suffering also from gales and heavy downpours...so looked very sorry for himself.
There was a raven on the grass land at Wakehurst.
At the pond, we saw Canada geese, mallard and Egyptian geese.
We also saw pheasant and Greylag... Quite a crowd for one pond.
I finally mastered the M setting as well as A to get zoom shots!!
So I managed to get good up close pictures of them all.
I will finish today with a shot of the Egyptian geese, as I do not usually get close ups of them.
HERE is an article about turtle doves.
Today we start with a baby coot and a parent, taken at WWT Arundel. That is not daffodils - that is mallards!
We saw 3 birds of prey today - kestrel, buzzard, and red kite. This is one of them....
As usual, I failed to get a decent shot.
We left the WWT ands went for ices at Swanborune Lake, where I spotted the pigeon tree well occupied.
In fact, there were only a handful at the lake feeding from crumbs and seed, most were in the tree....though a few had come doewn.
This next shot was the buzzard that we saw on this trip - which landed in a tree.
As we ended our excursion, we passed Goggles' pond....and spotted him hiding from a family of mallard babies.
Yet another sand marten piccie starts todays post - or two...
Actually, make that three...
Mr and Mrs Silvertag Bewick were lazing in the warm spring sunshine - no nest building going on for them this year, so far.
Dozing with the mallards in the daisies. Oh well.... Maybe later or maybe next year they will have their second brood. They had young one year, skipped last year, and....
Baby mallards - that makes a change!
Then it was onto the next hide...
I think it was supposed to be either a lapwing or an oyster catcher among the other water birds.
