Moorhen chickadees

15 Friday Aug 2025

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Moorhen, Moorhen chicks, Moorhen family

I thought we’d end the week with a massive dose of cuteness, with this gorgeous family of Moorhens I spotted yesterday in Cardiff’s Bute Park. At first, there were four tiny chicks, dwarfed by the huge Gunnera leaf on which they were standing.

Then a fifth chick appeared from behind the leaf and strode purposefully up the side of the Gunnera, standing with its massive feet apart, peering along the canal as if it was the nominated lookout searching for their Moorhen parents.

Seconds later, one of the parents appeared with a nibble of food. Although only one chick benefitted from that, they all seemed to realise that they needed to follow that parent if they had any hope of getting fed themselves so hopped one at a time into the water, paddling frantically to keep up. They were so very cute to watch.

First brood

01 Thursday May 2025

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Moorhen, Moorhen breeding, Moorhen chick

The Moorhens that make their home in the dipping pond at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park are prolific breeders, producing on average three broods of between 5 and 7 chicks each year. The little cutie pictured here is one of this year’s first brood and, though one parent was keeping an eye on this one and its siblings, the other adult was already preparing their next nest. According to the BTO, though the record for Moorhen survival currently stands at over 11 years, their average lifespan is just 3 years, and they begin breeding at age one. With statistics like that, you’d think our waterways would be overrun by Moorhens but their predation rate is high, with both wild and domestic mammals taking their toll, as well as birds like Grey herons and the large gull species feasting on the smaller chicks. This Moorhen chick may be a little sweetie but its life will almost certainly be a tough one.

First chicks of the year

30 Tuesday Apr 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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

When I first noticed this brood of initially five, now reduced to four Moorhen chicks at Cosmeston’s dipping pond, they had just hatched and, though I tried to get photos, the tiny bundles of black fluff were staying well concealed behind clumps of reeds. Six days later, on a subsequent visit, the chicks had grown enormously and were much more confiding. And – this always amazes me but these Moorhens generally have three broods a year – mother Moorhen was already sitting on a new nest, while dad tended to the first brood.

240430 moorhen chick

Nest-building

05 Friday Apr 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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birding, birds building nests, birds in nests, birdwatching, British birds, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Mute swan, Sand martin

When I spotted this Great crested grebe hauling a long piece of reed towards a potential nesting place, near where yesterday’s grebes had been mating (though not necessarily the same pair as there are several in that area), it occurred to me to wonder which usually comes first with birds, the nest-building or the mating? Maybe it’s a combination of both?

240405 nestbuilding GCG

There’s certainly a lot of nest-building going on at the moment – as well as that grebe, recent sightings have included a Moorhen, Sand martins checking out nest holes in one of Cardiff Bay’s old docks, and a Mute swan already sitting but still busily adding to and tidying her nest.

240405 nestbuilding moorhen 240405 nestbuilding sand martin 240405 nestbuilding swan

My first Palmate newt

29 Thursday Feb 2024

Posted by sconzani in amphibian, birds

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birding, birdwatching, British amphibians, Lissotriton helveticus, Moorhen, Moorhen with newt, Palmate newt

On Monday, I saw my very first Palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus).

240229 palmate newt (1)

Unfortunately …

240229 palmate newt (2)

The Moorhen was treating the newt in almost the same way a cat sometimes plays with a mouse, dropping it, picking it up again, twirling it round, bashing it against the water and reeds. And, surprisingly, it didn’t eat the newt, just dropped it in the water and stalked away when some people came noisily walking along the adjacent boardwalk.
p.s. I’m hoping at some stage to see a live newt!

A Moorhen reflects

29 Wednesday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Moorhen, Moorhen reflections, reflections

The lake is still overflowing from all the recent rain and that overflow area is more still that the waters of the lake itself. When I approached yesterday to check out which birds were present, this Moorhen was walking along the edge, its progress so slow that it wasn’t disturbing the watery reflections. The day was dull and grey so the light on the bird was not the best but I still took rather a lot of photos.

231129 moorhen reflects

Little limper

27 Tuesday Dec 2022

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

This morning’s weather was dismal, drizzle turning to steady heavy rain, so it was a delight to watch this little Moorhen. I’ve seen it before – it’s a juvenile, I think, from one of this year’s early broods, and it has a limp – its right leg looks weaker than its left, perhaps broken and rehealed when it was younger. But that doesn’t hold it back. It hobbles around as well as its kin and, perhaps to its detriment, it is quite fearless. When I walked slowly along the path, it popped up out of the water and headed straight towards me, presumably equating humans with the provision of food. Fortunately, it can still fly well too, so was able to flit quickly back to the safety of the lake when a dog headed our way.

221227 moorhen

Twinkle toes

02 Tuesday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Moorhen, Moorhen chick, Moorhen chick's toes, Moorhen feet, Moorhen toes

Can you even begin to imagine what it would be like to have toes as long as this Moorhen chick? It would be like having toes as long as our bodies. We’d be falling over ourselves trying to move about. But not the Moorhen. Although this little one was still young enough not to have full control over its lengthy extremities, one of its parents put on a display that showed exactly what they’re good for, spreading its weight as it sprinted across the leaves of water lilies, almost as if it was walking on water.

220802 moorhen chick

Baby Moorhens

22 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds

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

Following on from yesterday’s ‘baby’ theme, today we have some baby Moorhens from Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

210622 moorhen (1)

I tend to avoid the lake, cafe and car park areas of the park as those are where most of the people congregate but, yesterday, I wanted to check out the dipping pond for dragonflies so walked that way.

210622 moorhen (2)

Though there were no dragons to be seen, there were three generations of Moorhen, an adult, one of an earlier brood of chicks, and at least six of the latest brood, in all their fluffy feather cuteness.

210622 moorhen (3)

360/365 Christmas birding

26 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay walk, Cetti's warbler, Common Gull, Great spotted woodpecker, Grey wagtail, Linnet, little grebe, Moorhen, Stonechat, Turnstone

Normal weather service (i.e. wind and rain) has resumed here today but yesterday, Christmas Day, was glorious – blue skies, cold but no wind, so I took myself on a 6-hour 8½-mile walk right around Cardiff Bay. I saw 44 species of bird (and dished out some Christmas seed to a few), and had some nice chats to random strangers. The birding highlights included …