Psilos
Bird Journal |
Saturday April
1st 2006 |
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"New
beginnings " |
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Woke to grey skies but within
the hour blue skies showed through so decided to take my chances and
go to Martinmere. Driving down the M6 did not bode well as we passed
though a torrential hailstorm but amazingly as we drove over the hill
the vista below was bright with sun and clear blue skies. My spirits
soured at this point and my vibes for the day ahead were good.
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Martinmere today was awake
and vibrant with colour. Daffodils, scillas , forsythia and blossom
were in full bloom and the birds were alive with song. Looking out over
the mere there were still a large number of ducks around. Shelducks
were the most dominent and were everywhere giving me opportunities to
practise some flight shots. Shelduck breed very well at Martinmere and
their displaying and territorial fights can be seen everywhere. Small
numbers of teal and wigeon are also still around as are a small number
of whooper swans. It will be interesting to see if any stay here for
the summer as they did at Caerlaverock last year. |
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The wind coming off the mere
was cold and made your eyes water so it wasn’t long before we
had had enough and went into the park. Here it was more sheltered and
very pleasant in the sun. The first birds I sat and watched were the
white headed ducks. The males looked very dapper with their bright blue
beaks and three of the males were displaying to two females who looked
far from impressed. Hunched up and motoring through the water they looked
and sounded like clockwork ducks. A ticking whirring sound could clearly
be heard and when approaching a female they would hunch their shoulders
further and point their stiff tails towards the female. At times their
actions were intense and no female escaped their attentions but eventually
their batteries wound down and without any females offering themselves
up to them they set about preening. |
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Across the pond
the male Goldeneyes seemed to be having more success and it didn’t
even look like they had to try all that much as the females there were
in a very submissive mood. Three females could clearly be seen lying
low in the water waiting for the males attention. This display always
amuses me. The females lay there saying “Come on IM here Im available”
and the males just sit there ignoring them. Then all at once the male
rushes in and roughly takes the female before swimming off and continuing
his act of nonchalance. |
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Following on from the hatching
of the Hawaiian geese goslings last week one female mallard and a pair
of Moorhens had a brood of youngsters and in both cases it looked like
they were only a few days old. After such a long winter it is wonderful
to see these young ones again. Ducklings I always find challenging,
moorhens particularly so and this year I am making it one of my projects
to get some decent photographs. I am sure I will have no shortage of
subjects. |
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Nest building is going on everywhere.
For a while I sat and watched two pairs of moorhens nest building. In
both nests eggs were clearly laid as one bird never left whilst the
other brought in a continual supply of small twigs and pieces of dried
grass and leaves. Then when the shift was over the pair would swap around
as both birds incubate and rear the young equally. At one nest I found
three adult moorhens in residence which I found odd but I can only assume
that one of the birds was a juvenile from the year before. |
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Another bird sat on a nest
was the Coscoroba swan. These are not swans but in fact more closely
related to the shelduck. Two years ago they raised a single chick successfully
but last year their single chick died whilst still very young and they
did not nest again. Fingers crossed that they will be more successful
this year. |
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Heading back to the main visitor
centre I searched out the Hawaiian geese with their goslings. Surprisingly
at present there is only one lot of young when usually there are three
or four. They are now ten days old and growing well. They are nearly
twice as big as when I last saw them but have no feathers showing through
yet. |
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The last surprise of the day
was seen over swan lake and was the most welcome sight of all. It was
also I think one of the earliest sightings I have ever had. All the
way from South Africa flew the swallow and here he was back to breed.
For me at Martinmere winter is the whooper swan but despite all the
ducks and geese summer for me is still the swallow. To see it wheeling
and diving high up in the sky was a wonderful tonic indeed. This year
with my faster lens I am determined to get a decent flight shot! |
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