02 Monday Apr 2018
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, British ducks, ducks, male mallards fighting, Mallard, signs of spring, Spring is in the air, springtime
You can tell spring is in the air when the males start fighting over the females. These drake Mallards were really going at it. To the victor the spoils?
10 Monday Jul 2017
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.
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.
Even the base of the Scott memorial lighthouse has become a nursery for a family of seven little coots.
I defy anyone to look at these and not smile!
22 Sunday Jan 2017
Tags
Anas platyrhynchos, birding, birdwatching, domestic ducks, feral domestic duck, feral domestic ducks, Mallard, mallard interbreeding
When is a mallard not a mallard? That may sound like a trick question but the indiscriminate breeding habits of mallard ducks can produce offspring that confuse people who are trying to identify their species.
As far as I understand it, the story goes like this. First came the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). Then, humans decided they would domesticate the mallard to more easily obtain their eggs and meat to eat. Next, humans decided to ‘improve’ on the original mallard genes, using selective breeding to produce larger ducks with various colour variations (Chocolate magpie, Aylesbury, Welsh harlequin, Orphington, Swedish blue are just a few of these more specialised varieties and, if you’re interested in seeing more, there’s an excellent guide to domestic breeds of duck and the results of their various interbreeding here).
Sometimes, these domestic breeds escape from their captive situation or are illegally released into the wild and, when this happens, they can and do breed with pure mallards, thus producing a wonderfully varied and colourful array of offspring. These ‘mixed’ breeds are sometimes referred to as ‘manky mallards’, which is not meant as a derogatory term but rather as a way to differentiate them from pure-bred mallards. Manky they most certainly are not!
12 Monday Dec 2016
Tags
birding, birds, birdwatching, Greylag goose, jackdaw, Mallard, Moorhen, Roath Park Lake, Tufted duck
Just to show that the birds of Roath Park Lake aren’t all vicious killers (see yesterday’s post for that horror story), here are some I photographed before the swans attacked.
There’s a little concrete ledge under the water at this end of the lake, which is just perfect for the water birds to sit on and preen but still have the chance for a quick watery getaway if needed. It’s also perfect for bird watchers to get a better look at the cute little Tufted ducks as you rarely see them out of the water. I think this little black-and-white male knows exactly how handsome he is!
Further around the lake I was entertained by three Jackdaws searching through the leaf litter for food. Just as I’ve seen blackbirds and thrushes do, they would grab the leaves and fling them to one side, then look back quickly for signs of any insect movement.
Still further along the path, I stopped and fed the seed from one of the two containers I was carrying firstly to one of the Barnacle geese, and then to the Greylag and Canada geese, Mallards and Feral pigeons that rapidly came to flock around me. This Moorhen came last but was still able to pick up a few seeds the bigger birds had missed. Their feathers have such beautifully rich colours.
And last but certainly not least was this very sleepy Greylag goose, standing apart from all the rest on the edge of the pavement at the end of the lake. As I watched it tucked one leg up under its plump body and, though it tried to keep an eye on me just in case I was a threat, its eyes gradually closed for a mid-afternoon snooze.
01 Thursday Dec 2016
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, coal tit, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Kingfisher, Mallard, Moorhen, nuthatch, robin
When deciding on a title for this post, I couldn’t help but wonder where the phrase ‘Watch the birdie’ originated, and I quickly discovered that as early as 1879 Victorian portrait photographers were using trained live birds and then mechanical chirping birds to hold the attention of their subjects. (This blog has more details if you’re interested.) My intentions were a little different: I was carrying small pottles of bird seed to try to hold the birdies’ attention so I could take their photographs! However, plenty of folk had beaten me to it and the birds were already scoffing into all their food presents.
I hadn’t been to Forest Farm for a month or two so it was lovely to wander along the towpath of the old Glamorgan Canal and the meandering woodland paths, listening to bird song all around. A highlight was watching a kingfisher trying to spot the sprats in the canal – I only saw it dive once and that was unsuccessful but it was still an absolute delight to watch. It was a truly wonderful day watching the very-much-alive birdies.
27 Monday Jun 2016
Tags
This was the scene I encountered during a recent walk around Roath Park Lake. It immediately struck me as odd as you almost never see mallards in trees, so what on earth were they doing? There’s a story here. I was on my way to catch a train so couldn’t linger long, so I don’t know what the story is, but there’s definitely a story. Feel free to post your suggestions in the comments below. Sensible or silly, I’d welcome your ideas.
28 Saturday May 2016
Tags
Bert: ‘Ernie, don’t look now but there’s a woman over there with one those gadgets with the long black tube attached. What do you think she’s doing?’
Ernie: ‘I don’t know, Bert. You see a lot of humans with them, and they point them right at you. Total invasion of privacy, I reckon’
Bert: ‘Maybe if we look the other way, she’ll stop doing it.’
26 Thursday May 2016
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.
10 Thursday Mar 2016
Posted in birds, nature, nature photography
Tags
birding, birds, birdwatching, British birds, duck, Mallard, weather folklore
Though male and female Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) are so different they were originally thought to be two different species, today they are what almost everyone imagines when they hear or read the word ‘duck’, and they are the bird people most love to feed with old scraps of bread. Please don’t! As Britain’s Canal and River Trust has often warned, with 6 million loaves being thrown into canals, lakes and waterways every year, bread is a serious problem. Not only is it bad for the ducks’ environment, it’s not very healthy for the ducks either. Click on this link to read about the more natural alternatives.
British folklore has many charming references to mallards and weather forecasting, like this: ‘If ducks fly backwards and forwards, and continually plunge in water and wash themselves incessantly, wet weather will ensure.’ In Scotland, there’s a similar saying: ‘When ducks are driving through the burn [darting through the stream], / that night the weather takes a turn.’ And here’s one from Sussex: ‘If there’s ice at Martinmas will bear a duck / There’ll be nothing after but sludge and muck.’ Obviously, the nation’s weather forecasters should be watching the mallards, not their charts and satellite maps!
earthstar 
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