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 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

Baby Moorhens

22 Tuesday Jun 2021

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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.

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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)

348/365 The final brood

14 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Moorhen, Moorhen chicks, three brood of Moorhen chicks

The Moorhens of Cosmeston’s dipping pond have had a bumper year.

191214 moorhen family (1)

I blogged about their first brood of five on the day they hatched 1 April ‘91/365 New arrivals’ and then reported on their progress on 28 April ‘118/365 Chick update’.

191214 moorhen family (3)

Then, on 25 June, in ‘176/365 More new arrivals’, I happily announced the arrival of five more chicks.

191214 moorhen family (4)

I must have missed the hatching of the third brood, which probably arrived in early September. I’m not sure how many there were but four have survived and flourished, as you can see in this latest set of family photos.

191214 moorhen family (2)

These adult Moorhens are obviously excellent parents!

176/365 More new arrivals

25 Tuesday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

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

190625 moorhen family (5)

On April Fool’s day I reported on the hatching of five Moorhen chicks in one of the ponds at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. Nearly two months on, I’m delighted to report that all five of those chicks are still alive and thriving, and they now have a brand new bunch of five siblings, their parents’ second brood of the year. Raising them is a real family affair, as the older siblings help to feed and look after their little brothers and sisters. And there’s still time for the mum and dad to have yet another brood. I’ll be watching.

190625 moorhen family (1)

118/365 Chick update

28 Sunday Apr 2019

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

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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

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#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.

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Cuteness

14 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Canada goose, Canada goose goslings, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, gosling, Moorhen, Moorhen chicks

Sometimes, when all the news seems to be full of doom and gloom, it’s nice to have something in our lives to make us smile. So, on day 14 of #30DaysWild, I went looking for cute babies ’cause they always make me smile – not human babies but baby birds. First, I found these three gorgeous little Canada goose goslings with their parents by the east lake at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

180614 Canada geese goslings (1)

And then, at the dipping pond, I spent a very enjoyable half hour watching the many Moorhen babies feeding, swimming, and preening. I hope they make you smile as well.

Moor babies

28 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

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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.

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