Moor babies

28 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

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)

Feathers and fungi at Forest Farm

19 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, fungi, nature, parks, walks

≈ 4 Comments

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biodiversity, Blue tit, Blushing bracket, Brittle cinder, coal tit, Elfcups, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Great tit, Grey heron, Hairy curtain crust, Moorhen, nuthatch, Song thrush, wren

I’ve blogged about the charms of the Forest Farm Nature Reserve many times before but I thought I’d share some of the highlights from last week’s wander …

180319 Forest Farm

Oh, and I will just add that the combination of feathers – me mostly looking upwards – and fungi – eyes down – can be quite difficult. By the end of the day, I felt like one of those nodding dog ornaments you used to see in the rear windows of cars. Still, ’twas a lovely long meandering walk!

Birds of Forest Farm

07 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, bullfinch, dunnock, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Kingfisher, long-tailed tit, Moorhen, robin, treecreeper

I had a meeting at Forest Farm last Friday so, of course, I took the opportunity while I was there to have a wander around the trails and along the Glamorganshire Canal. And it was wonderful, though I did come away feeling a little guilty. We’d had a week of low temperatures, with overnight frosts, and there was a bitterly cold wind blowing. It was obvious the wee birds were cold and hungry but I hadn’t taken any seed with me. Here are a Long-tailed tit, a male Bullfinch, a Dunnock, a Robin and a Great tit.

171207 Forest farm birds (1) 171207 Forest farm birds (2) 171207 Forest farm birds (3) 171207 Forest farm birds (4) 171207 Forest farm birds (5)

The water of the canal was sheltered from the breeze and very still, making for some stunning reflections (thank you little Moorhen). And I was treated to excellent views of a female Kingfisher, who sat for at least 15 minutes on her branch. From the way her feathers were fluffed up and she was hunched over her ‘toes’, I figure she was feeling the cold as well.

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The Great spotted woodpecker was a treat, as were the Treecreepers – at least four of them, perhaps a family group, were actively scuttling up the branches in one small area by the canal. It was a grand day – my meeting went well and the birding was even better than expected!

171207 Forest farm birds (9) 171207 Forest farm birds (6)

On a grey Bay day

04 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks

≈ 8 Comments

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birding, birds, birdwatching, black-headed gulls, British birds, Canada geese, Cardiff Bay, Coot, Cormorant, fog, Great Crested Grebe, little grebe, long-tailed tit, Moorhen, Mute swan, Pied wagtail, starling, walk around Cardiff Bay

171104 1 Cardiff Bay fog

Thick fog hung over Cardiff Bay as I set out on a round-the-bay circuit yesterday morning and, though the fog thinned as the day went on, the day remained grey. Still, never let it be said that grey is boring. Birds there were aplenty (and wildflowers, too … but that’s for tomorrow’s post).

This cormorant was enjoying a successful spot of fishing in the old Penarth dock area, though it was slim pickings for the three Little grebes around the corner in the River Ely.

All around the Bay, on almost every man-made structure and clump of rocks near the water, Pied wagtails bobbed, wagged and ‘chisicked’.

Coots were even more numerous, and an occasional Moorhen prospected along the shoreline.

171104 5 Cormorant 171104 5 Flock of Canada geese

As I was watching this Cormorant drying its wings, our peace and tranquillity was interrupted by the loud honking of a large skein of Canada Geese flying in from the west.

Where concrete and buildings dominate the shoreline and there’s a notable absence of trees, the birds have adapted and perch on tree-like things.

I saw perhaps half a dozen Great crested grebes around the Bay: I always admire how long they can stay underwater when fishing. Mute swans were more numerous. They are birds of such contrasts, looking anything but decorous when flaunting their glorious white bottoms as they feed, yet the picture of elegance when preening.

171104 8 Black-headed gull (3)

The most abundant came at the end of my walk. It was standing room only for the Black-headed gulls on the Barrage.

Bay birds

21 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay wetlands, Great Crested Grebe, House martin, Linnet, Moorhen, Pied wagtail, swan, Turnstone

I had a super walk around Cardiff Bay yesterday …

170821a Linnets

A family of four Linnets were feeding on the Ely embankment. The seeds of Herb Robert seemed to be their food of choice.

170821b Linnets

This is one of six Turnstones foraging along the shoreline. I love their breeding plumage, which is now just beginning to change back to their less colourful winter plumage.

170821c Turnstone

These House martin chicks were poking their heads out of a nest on a house at the end of Penarth Marina.

170821d House martins

A close-up of one of a family of six immature Swans by the Barrage.

170821e Swan

And a little further long, this juvenile Pied wagtail was slipping and sliding along the wires at the shoreline.

170821f Pied wagtail

At Cardiff Bay wetlands, I followed a flock of tits and friends, and snapped this lovely bird. It might be a warbler or it might be a Chiffchaff – I couldn’t be sure as I didn’t hear its song and it wouldn’t show me its legs!

170821g Warbler or Chiffchaff

This young Moorhen was sticking close to the reeds while its parent was engaged in nest reconstruction, which seems just a little late in the year.

170821h Moorhen

And back over the other side of the Bay, by Ferry Court, this is one of three immature Great crested grebes that were swimming around amongst the Coots, Tufted ducks and Swans.

170821i Great crested grebe

Birds of Roath Lake

12 Monday Dec 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, parks

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

Watch the birdie!

01 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 8 Comments

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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.

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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.

Moorhen multiplication

19 Thursday May 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, chicks, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Gallinula chloropus, Moorhen

Are you ready for more cute bird babies? The Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) chicks at Forest Farm Nature Reserve last Friday were the first I’d seen, so I just had to take lots of photos of them. They looked a lot like coot chicks to me, except perhaps with even bigger feet!

160521 moorhen chicks (2)

According to the RSPB website there are around 270,000 breeding pairs in Britain so the chances of seeing them are fairly good, especially in lowland areas. The adults build a nest on the ground, in amongst thick shrubs for protection, and lay between 5 and 8 eggs that take about three weeks to incubate, with both male and female taking turns on the nest.

The parents also share the feeding of their offspring, though the chicks are able to feed themselves after a few days, and are fully fledged 6 to 7 weeks after hatching. A few weeks after that, the chicks head off on their own and the parents will often raise a second brood. That sounds like an awful lot of moorhens in the making but, sadly, as with most birds, predators take their toll.

chick callisthenics?

If you want to know more about moorhens, I found a delightful article online here. Meantime, I hope my photos make you smile as much as I did while watching these little cuties.