J is for juveniles

15 Sunday Dec 2024

Tags

baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, chicks, juvenile birds

Seeing chicks and juvenile birds is always a delight, and I’m sure I’m not alone in spending hours watching their fluffy cuteness, and being entertained by their awkward antics as they discover the world around them and learn now to find food for themselves. And, of course, they feature often in this blog.

241215 j is for juvenile moorhen

During 2024, we’ve seen Moorhen chicks (like the little cutie shown above) (First chicks of the year, 30 April), followed fairly quickly by a double dose of Great crested grebe chicks and Mallard ducklings (More chicks, 4 May). Just a few days later, goslings were the stars of the show (Canada goslings, 7 May), and then not one but Eight cygnets stole our hearts on 18 May. In June, there were Hungry noisy Blue tit babies, and the annual saga of the breeding attempts of my local Lesser black-backed gull chicks (Sad news, good news, 13 June), and a circuit of Cardiff Bay produced Canada goslings, more Lesser black-backed gull chicks, and the lovely Oystercatchers (Chicks of Cardiff Bay, 22 June).

241215 j is for juvenile coot

A walk along Cardiff canals in late June offered close views of gawky little Cootlets that still had a bit of growing to do before they resembled the juvenile Coot shown above and a bundle of fluffy Mallard ducklings (Chicks of Cardiff’s canals, 27 June). The final blog of the bird breeding season was published in mid July when the plaintive cries of a Herring gull baby attracted my attention.

Nine ‘ugly ducklings’

10 Monday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, cygnets, Mute swan, swan with cygnets, Ugly duckling fairytale

Seeing these gorgeous little balls of fluff made my day! I’d been watching these Mute swans for several weeks, building their nest, then sitting on eggs, so it was a real delight to see the proud parents gently shepherding their newly hatched brood around a local river inlet on Thursday.

210510 cygnets (3)

210510 cygnets (6)

118/365 Chick update

28 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Moorhen, Moorhen chicks

I’m delighted to report that the five Moorhen chicks that hatched in the dipping pond at Cosmeston on 1 April are all still alive and thriving. Their parents have obviously been doing a brilliant job of rearing and protecting them – no easy task when there are so many gulls at Cosmeston and a couple of local Buzzards that are always looking for an easy meal.

91/365 New arrivals

01 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Moorhen, Moorhen chicks

At 9am this morning, one of these Moorhen parents was still sitting on five eggs. By the time I got to the pond at 11.30 there were five newly hatched little bundles of fluff, two of which were already venturing out of the nest. And Mum and Dad were already mating, in preparation for their next brood. If these are the same Moorhens that bred at this site last year, they had three broods in total, I think, and those born first were helping the parents feed the subsequent generations. I’ll be keeping an eye on what happens this year.

190401 moorhen family (1) 190401 moorhen family (2) 190401 moorhen family (3) 190401 moorhen family (4)

89/365 A bunch of fluffy ducks

30 Saturday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, duckling, ducks, Mallard, Mallard duckling

These are the first baby birds I’ve seen this year – five little bundles of fluffy Mallard ducklings.

190330 mallard ducklings (4)

190330 mallard ducklings (2)

Moor babies

28 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Moorhen, Moorhen chicks

All was peaceful as my friend Jill and I sat in a hide at Forest Farm Nature Reserve earlier this week. Light rain was falling and, though we could hear bird song in the reeds and surrounding trees, the only birds we saw were the cheeky little Great tits and Robins coming to feed on seed left by previous visitors to the hide.

180427 Moorhen chicks (1)

Suddenly, a Moorhen appeared over the lip of the hillock in front of us, making a determined beeline for the front of the hide to harvest the seed that had been thrown out on the grass. The bird wasn’t at all hesitant and nervous … and then we saw why, as first one, then another little bundle of black fluff appeared over the hillock behind. We eventually counted five Moorhen chicks, and both parents emerged to help feed their ravenous youngsters. They were so delightful and entertaining to watch.

180427 Moorhen chicks (2) 180427 Moorhen chicks (3) 180427 Moorhen chicks (4) 180427 Moorhen chicks (5) 180427 Moorhen chicks (6) 180427 Moorhen chicks (7) 180427 Moorhen chicks (8)

Bird babies

10 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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Tags

baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Coot, cootlet, cygnet, duckling, Mallard, Mute swan, Roath Park Lake

While it was a pleasure to see the Little egrets at Roath Park on Thursday, it was the other birds that brought me the most joy, especially because there were so many babies to be seen.

170710 bird babies (2)

Cygnets, cootlets, ducklings, all at various stages of development, could be seen swimming, being fed by their parents and learning to feed themselves, and just sitting dozing in the warm sunshine.

170710 bird babies (1) 170710 bird babies (3)

Even the base of the Scott memorial lighthouse has become a nursery for a family of seven little coots.

170710 bird babies (4) 170710 bird babies (5)

I defy anyone to look at these and not smile!

170710 bird babies (6)

Baby, you’re adorable!

26 Thursday May 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

baby birds, birding, birdwatching, Blue tit, British birds, chicks, Coot, duckling, gosling, Greylag goose, Mallard, nuthatch

After having the very upsetting experience of seeing a Lesser black-backed gull grab and devour, whole, a little coot chick earlier this week, I want to celebrate today the birds that have made it … so far. There seem so many obstacles in the paths of baby birds, so many predators looking for an easy meal, problems with inexperienced parents not caring for their chicks properly, and also, in some cases, a lack of sufficient food. It seems a miracle any of them make it to adulthood. Here are some that are doing better than most.

These Coot siblings are doing well, and are looking much more adult now they’ve lost their orange and red head feathers.

This little Mallard duckling was so cute, scooting along quickly, feeding actively, keeping closely behind mum. Fingers crossed for him/her!

You’ve heard of the ostrich hiding its head in the sand? Well, it seems this Greylag gosling is trying the ‘hiding its head in the nettles’ version.

Baby Blue tit was sitting on the pavement outside my house yesterday but quickly, though slightly erratically, fluttered up to the nearest tree as I approached. Luckily, one of its parents was nearby and flew down with some food. Its big eyes make it look surprised by the big wide world outside the nest!

This Nuthatch is the most advanced chick I’ve seen and was actively feeding itself on a tree in a local park, though it was stopping often to preen. Moulting its baby fluff must be an itchy process.