This afternoon I had an hour to myself and decided to visit Liden Lagoon. I was trying to figure out the last time I was here and it was on 16 Apr. Wow a lot has changed since then.
So in picture detail, here are a few highlights:
A juvenile Wren tries to grab Mums attention....
Only to see her fly right past......
Oh well lets try again........
But Mum's still looking the other way!
A female Chiffchaff, how would it be possible to know that....
Well there's a very distinct brood patch so there's a very good chance this Mum.
Now when you're looking after 3 hungry chicks, the last thing on your mind, is sorting out your mop!
And here is a family shot. Mum, Dad and the 3 Kids.
Now this is an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull showing off. If I didn't know any different I would say that this is almost a perfect pirouette.
Hmm I don't think this Herring Gull has quite got it, but those wings are mighty impressive!
All a bit boring. But my word that is a big mouth.
Last years juvenile Mute Swan. I'm thinking it's almost certainly a female as the now new resident Cob seems to oblivious to it as swims around the Lagoon.
The new family of 5 cygnets.
Now this a female feral Mallard and a very pretty one.
Now of all the 47 Canada Geese on the Lagoon, this one was a right poser. As extrodinary as this may sound, she actually broke away from the all the others to come across to me, stand on the rock, have her photograph taken, then swim off to join the others. So bizarre and very true. The only assumption I can make is that this goose may well have been at Coate Water and was very use to people feeding it. So I've come along and she obviously thought I was going to feed her. Sadly not! The reason I think this bird is a female, is that she is lot smaller than a lot of the others around her. The orange collar around "her" neck is part of an on-going project from the CWP
Here. The letters on this bird are IU.
The only thing I missed was actually seeing this chick come out of the egg. It was a bit wobbly and ran off, straight into the water. Probably not the best decision it made............
.....as it disappeared under the sludge surrounding the nest.
Once it realised that being in the water probably wasn't such a good idea just yet........
..........it was straight back up to Mum for some reassurance. Maybe it was just dazzled by the sunlight and lost its bearings. Well lets face it, it has been in semi darkness for a couple of weeks!
Now I watched this Squirrel run across the track in front of me from the wood opposite. It obviously had something of interest in its mouth........
............which turned out to be peanuts in their casing. And judging by the dirt around it, he's just dug it up. And there I was thinking that Squirrels stored nuts for the Winter. Could this actually be reserve food for youngsters!
The only two damselflies that I saw flying here at the Lagoon today were this male Common Blue,
Enallagma cyathigerum............
.....................and this male Blue-tailed Damselfly,
Ischnura elegans. Funnily enough they were both together, with not a female in sight!
And now for something completely different a Tiger Moth for the year list. Unfortunately not from the family
Arctiidae (Garden Tiger Moths etc.) but a Second World War plane. The A17-48 above is actually from Australia. There is a lovely article
Here about this wonderful aircraft.
Birds Recorded: 5 Great Crested Grebe (2 adult, 3 juv), 8 Mute Swan (1 pair, 5 cygnets, 1 juvenile from 2014), 47 Canada Geese (33 adults, 14 juv), Mallard, Moorhen, 7 Coot (6 adults, 1 newly hatched chick), 5 Herring Gull, 14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Wood Pigeon, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dunnock, Blackbird, 1 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Wren (1 adult, 1 juv), Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow and Goldfinch. Also Damselfly.
