Psilos Bird Journal
Wednesday August 13th 2008
     
"Still standing "
 
House martin
 
Returned to Doffocker fully expecting the chick to h ave fledged and gone. So it was with great surprise that I found the adult birds still there and the chick still on the raft. It is eleven days since I last saw it and it doesnt look old enough for fledging yet. Maybe the chick wasnt as old as I thought it was when I first saw it. Since I last saw it the weather has b een bad, with torrential rain so maybe fishing has not been good and the chick has not grown as fast as usual. It certainly looked quite pathetic all on its own. It is never good for chicks to be fledging so late as they have to get strong for their mammoth journey down into Africa.
 
Today the parents came in from over the houses. They had probably been fishing on the nearby Rumworth lodge. I watched as they stopped and hovered high in the air, motionless and calling to one another. So high up and not moving. I couldnt figure out what they were doing. Then they moved closer to the tall trees and started to alarm and mob down into the tree. I can only assume that there was an owl or a bird of prey sat there though I never saw a bird fly out.
 
Eventually they flew away and focused their attentions on an enemy much closer to the raft. A juvenile Black headed gull was foolish enough to fly too close and they unleashed all their wrath onto the poor unsuspecting bird.
 
 

The gull put up a good fight but was no match for two determined terns.

The two Mute swans are also on the back lake. As they climbed out of th e water I managed to read thier leg rings. I will submit them and try to get further information as to their origins. Over the water there are many Swallows and House martins feeding up and getting ready for their long migration south in the next few weeks. Will be back in a day or two and I might actually get to see this chick fledge.