© Worth Park Friends 2024
Our member Tom Howard-Jones wrote:
Nesting Moorhen, 18th April 2024, Photo: Tom Howard-Jones
It was a bright, bracing spring day.
The pair of
Egyptian Geese
still have five growing goslings. Hopefully, they are now
large enough to survive.
A
Mallard Duck
led a procession of fourteen small ducklings across the lake. Maybe
only one has been lost recently.
There was at least one
Grey Heron
hunkered down in their nest. In due course I
expect we will find out how many young they have raised.
Both of the
Mute Swans
were swimming on the lake. I think I have found their
pathway into the vegetation and to their nest on the smaller island. Again in time we
will find out more about their nest and brood.
There were three
Blackcaps
flitting about in a bush on the edge of the lake.
The
Moorhen
was still sitting on its nest at water level. However, nearby there was
another Moorhen sitting on a nest some 10 feet up a tree.
A
terrapin
was hauled out on a tree root.
For a while it seemed that there would be no gulls at all. But one
juvenile Herring
Gull
flew in briefly. Presumably all the usual Black-headed Gulls are away at their
breeding sites.
The trees are coming into leaf. They are lovely fresh shades of green - but it is
making it harder to spot the birds.
A full list of the birds seen is given in the
Bird Table
.