Psilos
Bird Journal |
Friday 14th
April 2006 |
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"The
waiting game" |
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A beautiful day
and another trip to Martinmere with a friend who hadnt been for a while.
That makes twice in one week but I dont mind as I could go there anytime.
The mere now is almost totally empty of birds and with a very low water
level looks very barren indeed. A very sharp contrast to the noisy,
very active mere of winter months. |
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Went looking for the two broods
of ducklings that I had photographed a few days before. It seems that
nature has dealt a harsh hand here and from a total of twenty eight
ducklings only six were left. |
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I have to say that for most of the day
I wandered around and felt totally uninspired. Sometimes I find that
instead of wandering around looking for something interesting I just
find a quiet spot and just sit and watch. It was by doing this that
I spotted a moorhen sat on a nest. I have seen her before and indeed
her chicks must be about ready to hatch, but sat in the sun she was
very hot and was panting hard. She was also trying to catch flies and
would rear up high to try and catch them. Most people would not give
a moorhen a second look but I spent a very enjoyable twenty minutes
watching her behaviour. |
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Predation has been high with
the Hawaiian goose goslings too. Looking for the broods that were present
last visit it appears that half of the goslings have been lost. |
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All adults are protective of
their goslings and will warn off anyone who comes too close. |
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Sometimes interesting
photographs come about solely by luck. Whilst photographing a couple
of first year male Hooded Mergansers eating freshwater mussels I pressed
the shutter just as another male surfaced at the side. The water can
still be seen falling from his head. This kind of shot comes down purely
to luck and produces something quirkily different. |
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