Psilos Bird Journal
Friday June 2nd 2006
     
"Venturing out"
great crested grebe chicks
 
It is a beautifully warm, sunny friday evening. The kids have gone away for the weekend and I have two hours of good light left to go and see if the Mute swan family have ventured far from the nest yet. Five cygnets hatched about a week ago but as yet I havent seen them away from the nest.
 
 

and indeed I am in luck! The adults and cygnets are out on the water and luckily for me they are feeding on the shallow pond over the other side of the path. This makes it much easier to get down to a low level and photograph the cygnets. The light is behind me and is very soft. Perfect for photographing these beautiful birds.
     

     
The adults keep a watchful eye on me but I do not venture too close so they feed naturally without signs of stress.
     

 
I absolutely adore cygnets at this age. They are so alert and attentive. The adults are also very caring of their youngsters and they all feed as a tight group with the cygnets avidly watching their parents and each other for anything they might learn.
 
 
After satisfying my photographic desire for these birds I set off in pursuit of a different quarry. Mute swan cygnets are very quiet birds but there is another set of youngsters on the lake that are definatly making themselves heard. The Great crested grebe family is now down to two chicks and the parents are working very hard to keep them fed. The parents in this family appear very experienced and only bring their young fish of a manageable size.
 

Out on the water it is very much survival of the fastest. As the adult surfaces with a fish the fastest chick to get to the adult wins the prize. Looking at them it seems the contest is pretty even. They are of a similar size and I cant believe how big they have grown.
My last target birds for the evening are also very vocal and I can hear them whereever I go. Making my way round to see the terns this magpie lands on the path in front of me. As they are usually so very wary I take the opportunity to take a photograph before he flies away.
The terns now have chicks that are about five days old so they are venturing out from the raft much more frequently to go fishing.
Tonight the terns were as cantankerous as ever! One tern brought a fish and was quickly hounded from the raft. The tern then took the fish and flew low over the water dipping the fish again and again. In the end the fish was dropped and lost. So much effort for no reward at all.