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Saturday 8 March 2014

Just a Few Birds on the Water

Its an interesting time now to watch birds on the water. 
Species are already paired or starting to pair off, of course some pair for life.
It can be quite a noisy affair and at times even violent with birds staking their claim on territory.


The Mute Swan is certainly very territorial.




The Coot looks fairly peaceful here below in the first two images….



…..but don't be fooled by that. Their territorial fights can be thoroughly unpleasant to watch.






The Teal Duck by comparison is fairly non combatant from what I have seen.



The Great-crested Grebe is quite territorial and although they do get into battles, its not as frequent as Coots.


They will make threatening postures and moves like the one below to drive other pairs off…..


…..and having done so will show their allegiance to one another by performing a lot of head shaking together.





The Gadwall appears a little more active than the teal and usually in late winter/early spring will take off from the water and fly around with males chasing females and land on the water again, only to be repeated several times. Eventually they pair off and settle down.



Peace eventually breaks out and everyone gets down to the business of mating, nesting and rearing.




11 comments:

  1. ...and once all the fun has been had it's soon into baby food, nappies, sleepless nights then it's schools and school clothes and it just goes on and on..and you still have to pay the mortgage and...er!..sorry Roy, I drifted off there for a minute!

    Yeh, it's a busy time of year for the wildfowl and it's always interesting to see all the different rituals that are being played out...and all for the same purpose! Lets hope they don't get washed out again like a lot of them did last year...[;o)

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  2. Thanks Trevor, yes I was drifting off there for a moment as well.{:))

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  3. Hey Roy... Serene and lovely, and down right nasty post!! : )
    I love the colors in the Swan shots!! Nice to see whats happening there in bird land, but for here I think keeping warm is on there minds!!

    Grace

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  4. Bonjour Roy,
    les amours reprennent vie, c'est bon pour nous !
    Superbe parade de grèbe, leurs attitudes sont adorables.
    Kiss

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    1. Merci Nathalie. le grèbe est un oiseau très spécial.

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  5. A lovely water bird blog with a variation of birds. The coots are already fighting over the females lol ... Also a beautiful teal with wife and grebes are also nicely.

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  6. Lovely pics Roy :-) I love the reflections in many of these shots, especially the Swans pics.

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  7. Lovely photos Roy! This time of year always brings expectations in the birding world, wonder what this year will bring at Ferry Meadows? Maybe another Black-necked Grebe, or White-winged Black Tern!?
    J
    Follow me at HEDGELAND TALES

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    1. Thanks John. Yes hopefully there will be something different to see.

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