BIRD NEWS:238

What better way to begin a new blog post than with a pigeon picture - erm... Well maybe if it was not all tail, wing and bum in view! Here we go - the family of black-necked swans in their latest size and color.

I took several shots of these guys - and their duck amigo - before moving on to - guess what - another pigeon! This time one lazing on the grass looking at me - and a show pigeon to boot!

The swans and pigeon were near one another - so I took a few more shots of both before eventually moving along.

BIRD NEWS:237

I was still taking shots of the coal-tit at the reedbed walk open feeder station whilst trying to see what I was hearing - woodpecker activity. Along came a blue-tit...

I gave up and wandered along to the woodland hide - one of the best places to spot birds i am more familiar with. Regular readers may recall the baby moorhens I took several pictures of over the past 4-5 months - well here is one at adult size.

I also spotted a robin munching seed from a feeder. This was strange - as our robin has not learned this trick yet and squeak-tweets from the tree for seed and suet on the windowsill. I expect it is the unusual shape of the feeder - with a wide ledge rather than pole then enables this fellow to eat here.

Next up a female chaffinch decided to munch peanuts.

Oh dear me! This moorhen was so hungry it almost fell into the hole the birds have made below the feeder where they scramble for the dropped crumbs. It managed to get out again, thankfully.

BIRD NEWS:236

Yes, the trumpeter swans were still in the same lake-pond and take a look at how huge the cygnets have grown in the 6 weeks I was away! They are now adult sized, if still cygnetty colored.

You can see the younger ones dive their beaks down and stick their tails out to find their own food now, also. They are not however quite as glamorous as their parents and their wobbling waving feet and legs are quite comical - and look even more amusing when moving than still.

I snapped a picture of a newly erected info-board to share with readers as I moved along. Every so often these boards are changed - so even for regular readers seeing my regular trip photos, there will be new information!

My next stare-halt was along the reedbed walk at the open air feeder station. I could hear tapping and hoped to spot woodpeckers as at least two trees had the noise issuing from them - but alas, not on this trip. I did catch a few shots of other birds though, including this coal-tit.

BIRD NEWS:235

That was my last photo of the Bewick swans for this trip. Next up I wandered past the wildlife garden area and saw a group of goldfinches flit from tree to feeder and back. I have circled those in my photos in case you cannot see them without a hint.

Next along my travels I came upon a pond filled with noisy ducks. On the path was the goose with the broken wing feathers, rummaging about. He had probably overtaken me as I took some time out to ride the boat trip through the reedbeds.

Looking back across the path before going further forward, I spotted one goldfinch perched on a tree and hoped for a better shot... This is as large as I could get him.

I then went back towards the noisy-duck pond and round the corner to see if the Trumpeter swans were still using the pond...

BIRD NEWS:234

Here is a shot of the diving birds area where some of the ducks are feeding. I wonder if anyone can recall which of the swans comes first on the clockwise circle - here is a clue - but it is hiding its tell-tale beak!

Here we go...this shot shows the Bewick Swan's distinctive beak. I took quite a few of the adult duo - who nested but did not appear to produce any young this year.

For a brief interlude, current activity in the back yard includes food gobbling at the feeder pole from multiple starling and sparrow and a loud and active robin who checks the windowsill often. Additionally, the odd pigeon and dove frequent the yard - but not much else this past fortnight. Now back to the Bewick Swans...

Finally for today's post a POEM.

BIRD NEWS:233

There was one young gull who came near to me and stood around peacefully after screeching for a little while. I was trying to spot the beach gang pigeons though - to see if any recalled me from previous visits. One appeared to...

Still the gull hung about hopefully, despite the only item coming out of my bag being a camera...

...and the beach bird stood nearby too - until also spotting nothing edible issuing from my hands on this trip.

My next trip was to Arundel - regular readers will know what to expect! Here are the 'grown-up' juveniles wandering about - one has a damaged wing - or maybe moulting a large feather?

This trip I spent a total of around 3 hours at the reserve - if you include my coffee break. Once again, I included some info-boards so readers would not be bored with my ramblings but have some knowledge beyond 'awwwwww.....'

BIRD NEWS:232

Jumping back to August, I took a couple of shots in Brighton while visiting on the last day of my vacation before getting chomped on by a neighbors dog. Whilst I did not get any decent close-up shots of pigeons, gulls, or any other such bird, I did get a couple of distant views showing both along the beach front.

Back home and in September and we had a rainy day. I took a couple of shots of Pidge standing atop the feeder pole with rain running off his feathery back...

A day or so later, I got a shot of Ditty sitting in the tree waiting to be fed.

That takes me to my next excursion - I took the local bus to Worthing to hunt down some tubi-band for my bitten leg. Whilst in town, I took a few photos along the seafront. These were mostly gulls, but there were also a few pigeons from the beach gang I used to hang out with a year or two ago.