Invisible Borders

As I was passing the Lakes where I watched the Grebes a few days ago, thought I would check on them once again to see if they were indulging in any more courtship display, unfortunately not, the Grebes appeared to be taking an early morning 'siesta'

Great Crested Grebes

The two Kingfishers made a short fly by in the direction of the storm drain, with not much else happening on the Grebe front I spent some time watching the Coots

Eurasian Coot

The Coots have spent the winter months in relative harmony, tolerating each other's company, quite strange sometimes when you come across these large 'rafts', I remember seeing such a sight at Capel Fleet a few years ago, must have been at least two hundred Coot on that stretch of water, all together in quite a tight grouping.

It's now February, spring is almost upon us, it seems that a switch has been activated, the Coots  return to their normal pugnacious behaviour, it's all about territory really, something which the Coots take very seriously.

The Coots adopt various postures when they feel their territory is being threatened, "swanning or wing arching" used as either a paired display or to warn off intruders other than Coots.

When a Coot notices a rival near its territory it moves into a "patrol" posture, head lowered, it moves towards its rival, this  posture  is usually noticed by other Coots at some distance away and they take avoiding action, if not, then the Coot accelerates into a " charging" posture head lowered and thrust forward, a noticeable wake behind the bird as it accelerates towards its rival.

The Coots can be seen 'swanning' in this photo with a Coot moving quickly towards them in a 'patrol posture.

 This then moves to the next posture known as "Splattering" as the Coot runs across the water towards its rival.

This usually results in the intruder splattering away to a safer stretch of water.

Occasionally a confrontation is inevitable,  the Coots massive lobed feet are used as the weapon of choice, a closer look at the Coots feet reveal tiny claws at the end of each lobed toe, making them look even more menacing.

Tranquility soon returns

'On Reflection'- Great Crested Grebe

The Great Crested Grebe,  not one of the rarest of Grebes these days, but arguably one of the most spectacular, especially if you can track down a courting pair in full breeding plumage engaged in their courtship rituals, the icing on the cake obviously is to witness the famous 'penguin dance' or weed dance as I know it, the pair rush together, feet frantically paddling until they are upright, chest to chest, flicking beaks full of water weed at each other.

I have only witnessed this once many years ago and very distantly, so this is high on my ' bucket list of wanted photographic opportunities '

February seems to be the best time to try and witness this courtship ritual, just a matter of finding a lake occupied by a breeding pair, not so easy.

I became aware of just such a pair on a fishing lake not too far from where I live. I arrived relatively early in the morning, parked the car and almost immediately could see a pair of Grebes swimming very closely together which looked promising, problem being the sun was directly behind them,
I needed to get to the other side of the lake so the sun was behind me.

I set off around the fishing lake, plenty of other waterfowl on the lakes, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, a single Egyptian Goose, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Pochard, and Mallard, I also came across another pair of Grebes and a single individual, five altogether.

As I approached the lake I could see the two Grebes which had now moved further into a narrow section of the lake, there were a few industrial buildings on the lakeside which were making some nice colourful reflections on the water, the Grebes were obviously happy with each other's company calling to each other occasionally, but no real sign of courtship at first.

I watched these Grebes for sometime before they began to show any ritual signs of courtship, it followed a period of prolonged fishing, the Grebes coming together after preening, no dancing for me but I did witness various courtship mirroring moves.

Even though I did not witness the 'dancing' it was very nice to watch this courting pair. I may try again later to spend some more time watching this pair as they hopefully raise the next generation.

I watched the Grebes fishing and moving through the various reflective water surfaces looking for some different shots.

I spent most of the morning watching these Grebes, mostly at a distance but every now and again swimming quite close. During this time I caught sight of a bonus bird in the form of a Kingfisher, they were particularly interested in a small storm drain which entered the lake, fishing must have been good there because they kept returning. I could only get a distance shot from my position on the other side of the lake although I did manage a sneaky shot through the branches of a lakeside tree as I walked back to my car.

A great mornings bird watching and a definite return is on the cards.

Winter Garden Summary !

I find it very difficult to pass a window without spending a few minutes watching the garden feeders, always nice to watch the regular garden visitors, and the hoped for scarcity.

But it's the usual suspects mainly, House Sparrows, a pair of Blackbirds and a few Dunnocks usally seen skulking around the garden shrubs, Starlings en-masse, at least five Collared Doves chasing each other around the garden, can't quite work out who is paired with who though, Wood Pigeons have consumed most of the Ivy berries now but always a few seen beneath the feeders. Ring Necked Parakeets fly into the Pear Tree early morning and late afternoon, particularly fond of peanuts, sunflower seeds and apples.

The briefest view of a Wren on the garden fence was the only one seen this winter.

The local Sparrowhawks seem to have moved on, none seen  for a few months now.

 A few Chaffinches seen daily, normally females and occasionally a nicely coloured male.
No Greenfinches have been seen at all this winter unfortunately, Goldfinches on the other hand are regular visitors usally to the 'Niger feeders' occasionally to the sunflower hearts.

No winter Thrushes this year, my pair of Robins still wait for an easy feed early in the morning although I still can't tempt the female to feed from my hand.

Blue Tits and Great Tits as expected, are seen daily. A nice surprise recently is the roving band of Long Tailed Tits seen in the garden, usally around the Pear tree

Long Tailed Tits

Once again a winter Warbler in the form of a male Blackcap has been seen around the garden these last few days, strangely I only seem to catch sight of these wintering Blackcaps near the end of the winter, but usally at least one turns up in the garden, attracted by an apple or two.

I have noticed some Snowdrops flowering in the garden, Crocuses and Daffodils breaking through the soil,  buds appearing on the garden shrubs, spring is on the way thank goodness.

Bohemian Waxwings at Strood !

The long wait for the Waxwings to filter down through the country to the county of Kent is finally over, they first appeared round about the middle of January with a flock of up to twenty birds being seen at Cobham woodlands. They were then reported feeding around the country park at Jeskyns where the number dwindled down to six birds.

This being one of my dog walking haunts I tried on several occasions to connect with these, but unsuccessfully I must add.

After several days absence from Jeskyns, reports of  six Waxwings frequenting the area opposite the Bounty PH. I wondered if these were the same birds.
This seems to be a favoured feeding area for Waxwings as they keep turning up here most winters.

Unfortunately for the residents of this two storey block of flats the Yellow Rowan Trees which were fully laden with berries are very attractive to the Waxwings which have been seen here over the past few winters, they soon move on when the berries have been exhausted probably to the residents relief.

My planned visit coincided with a fairly heavy snowfall during the night, fortunately the roads were easily passable and I found myself alone at the site.

 I could see just four Waxwings at the top of a nearby tree, I positioned myself near the ornamental yellow Rowan, not to close as to scare the birds off, just a matter of waiting now for them to fly down to the berries.

It wasn't long, first one bird flies down to the tree closely followed by the others. then there's some frantic feeding before they get spooked and fly back up to the safety of the taller trees.

Here's my collection of photographs, certainly not frame fillers. but a lovely bird to watch, especially as you do not see them that often.

Bohemian Waxwing  Bombycilla garrulas

 I wasn't happy with the images I had, too soft, bad light, bad photographer whatever, the weather forecast for the next day was brilliant sunshine, one more chance I thought before the berries were depleted.

As I neared the Bounty PH I was amazed to see a huge throng of cameras, scopes and people all trained on the tree with the last few remaining berries, no birds were in sight, too many people for me I settled for the images I had, maybe another chance at another venue, or maybe next year, who knows, certainly a very popular bird to see.