One day I was walking up the far bank of the pond where the ducks hang out looking for duck eggs (I've found a few so far), when I got near to where the ducks were. Blow me down if the whole moorhen family were not sitting on the bank with my ducks!! Of course they saw me and scarpered for the protection of an overhanging willow but I did manage a shot of them. There are only three babies here but I know that all four are still OK.
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| A parent takes the babies off to safety to get away from that horrid human! |
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| Yesterday I got a better view. One of the parents was getting beakfuls of duck food to feed one of the babes. This is where we are feeding the ducks by the pond with a cover to keep rain off the food. |
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| The great thing is that baby was waiting in the water out in the open! |
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| And I was really pleased to get this picture of both of them together! The babies have already grown. |
Also yesterday as I was doing some tidying around one of my raspberry beds I heard some pecking and squawks coming from a pine tree on my neighbour's side. Looked up and it was a Great Spotted Woodpecker attacking a large pine cone and getting a good feed of the kernels!
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) with a nice beakful of food! |
Loved the photos but especially that handsome woodpecker!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marianne - that was just luck, don't normally get as close to them! Sorry for the late reply but was out all day yesterday birding/butterflying/bugging and having a great time!
DeleteGlad the Moorhens are still doing well, we have none this year on the pond at the park, but have three sets of young Mallard, and I have not seen the Woodpecker nesting in the same place this year, they are about though must have found a new nest site, spending to much time looking at the ground so not noticing the birds. Will have to have a bird day....
ReplyDeleteAmanda x
Thanks Amanda. I don't ever see where any woodpeckers nest round here. I have blue tits who nest under the eaves right by my potting shed (boiler room) and I'm hearing the racket the babies are making now so I guess they will be fledging any day now. Sorry I'm late replying, was out in southern Brittany birding (but also mostly looking at bugs and butterflies and damselflies) so I'm also looking at the ground. Will catch up with your blog as I haven't commented on the nettle one yet and I don't even know if you've published more since.....aaargh just scrolled up to my blog list and yes you have..... well I have about 300 photos to sort out but I'll be over soon. Probably Monday as it's due to rain then and I'm not wasting these few days of warm sunshine on my computer! Have a great weekend. :-)
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