Psilos Bird Journal
Tuesday May 12th 2009
     
"Meet the big boys"
 
 
At this time of year it is great to see all the ducklings, goslings and chicks around. I love to see them and I have a keen eye. Out there there are many pairs of eyes watching and not all of them are as friendly as me. Predators are everywhere and none today where more visible than the Lesser black backed gull.
 
Lesser black backed gulls are one of the biggest gulls found in this country. They are found on the coast and just as readily inland. They are opportunist scavengers who will place a young bird very high up on their menu. When I arrived there were just two birds patrolling the waters. The photo above shows a mature adult but there was also a second year bird around (photo below) No duckling or coot chick is safe.

As I stood and watched other adult birds appeared and very soon there were half a dozen birds circling.
 
Unlike their cousin the Greater black backed gull these birds can be quite tame. As I stood and watched an immature bird preening whilst stood on a post I was amazed to see a adult bird land on a post only feet from where I was standing. Up close their size is quite formidable and you can see whey they are such a threat as predators. The photo below shows the immature bird who has a black end to his beak instead of the red spot of the adults.

One predator that is a threat to the small bird population is the Carrion crow. These birds will take chicks directly from the nest and there are always plenty of these about at Moses Gate.
 
 
Despite the threat of predators all birds simply carry on with raising their family. The high pitched ting ting call of the Coot alerted me to this pair mating. Their nest appears to be quite close to the bank of the lake. Im not sure I fancy their chances at being successful.
 
 
One question that has always intrigued me is why do the Great crested grebes here nest so late. Watching them today the answer was blaringly obvious, staring me in the face. There are only two suitable nest sites on the lakes and early on they are taken over by coots. The grebes today were patrolling the coot nest (where they bred last year) very closely. It is obvious that these birds cannot nest until the coots give it up. At far range I can see that their chicks have just hatched so hopefully this year the grebes might not be so late.
 
 
The Mute swans are also trying to nest. This year they have found a more suitable place so hopefully there will be some cygnets too.
 
 
I was surprised to see some very young immature swans on the lake today also. These are still very brown and must have been raised very late last year. I suspect these birds are from the same brood as they stook very closely to each other. I will keep an eye out for them in the future.