Thursday 27 May 2010

Thursday 27th.May 2010

It was mid afternoon before the skies started to clear after rain or drizzle from early morning . The first sign of the sun had me heading for the Farm lake . needless to say , by the time I got there , the sun had disappeared again behind grey clouds . I found very little happening on the lake , apart from the single , young , surviving Coot , which seemed very subdued , nothing like the 'I'm hungry , feed me' that is usually heard . As I walked around the bank , I noticed a new family , tucked away on the floating platform , were three Moorhen chicks , and the parents must have told them to keep still , as they stood like statues , without uttering even a 'cheep' . I don't know where the one on the right gets it's eye make up from ! Everything was serene , until someone strayed into someone else's territory , when a fight broke out between an adult Moorhen and Coot . It didn't last long , and was more like 'handbags' at three paces . Still just one Little Grebe showing , but , watching that one , I'm still pretty sure that the female is on a nest in amongst the Yellow Flag Irises , as this assumed male had found a tasty morsel , and had brought it to his partner . Nothing like banking a few 'Brownie points' . Whilst watching the goings on , a small bird flew into one of the Silver Birches around the lake . It turned out to be a male Yellowhammer , and later I heard him singing , something about 'cheese' or the lack of it . On the far side of the lake , I found the female Mallard , preening , and in the grass to her left , the one remaining duckling , but no sign of the Mandarin family . On my second lap of the lake , in the opposite direction , a surprise was waiting for me back at the floating platform . The Moorhen brood was four not three , and both parents were in attendance too . I also tried to photograph a pair of Green Woodpeckers , but my stalking let me down big time , and they flew off well before I got into camera range . Just a few teneral damselflies were seen , but this lake is fed from an artesian well , and cool water from 200+ feet below the surface and the fact that it is in a frost prone valley , always means that emergence is later that at other sites . Just one Green-veined White butterfly was recorded on my visit .

3 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Not much of a day for early summer was it!

I didn't even find any butterflies to mis Identify

Phil said...

The three Moorhen chicks look like the bird version of St Mark's flies with their long black legs Greenie. Super picture though. I've given up trying to stalk Green Woodpeckers, they've got eyes in the back of their heads.

ShySongbird said...

Lovely to see the youngsters and the Yellowhammer, I haven't seen one yet this year. We used to see and hear lots of them along a nearby disused railway track but the last few years has seen a decline in that location.