Same wildlife different location

Female Pochard

While staying with friends at Hill Head, on the Solent, we strolled down to the lovely harbour with its adjoining nature reserve. Two of the first waterbirds we spotted were a female pochard (above) and a little grebe (below). Back home on the Thames we are regularly visited by a pair of red-crested pochards but seldom see 'regular' pochards.

A little grebe heads towards the reeds

At the mouth of the harbour, where the river Meon meets the Solent, we spotted a pair of little grebes, a pair of pochards, plenty of tufted ducks, gulls, coots, moorhens and, of course, mallards. The light was so lovely and refelcted the colour of the reeds in the water when I took this shot.

A little grebe intent on fishing

I watched for ages as the little grebes dived for very small fish, taking time out to preen their feathers on a regular basis. I was so pleased to be able to watch this pair at leisure as they were more habituated to humans than the pair I've spotted around Taggs Island.

Disappearing act

It's fun to watch them dive for fish. Their success rate isn't great if what they bring to the surface is all they get. They may be like cormorants, however, which swallow the smaller fish while still underwater.

Fulvous whistling duck

A rather handsome and unusual looking duck caught my friend's eye and it seemed to be arousing interest among some birdwatchers, so we asked them what it was. A fulvous whistling duck, was the reply, and I gather we were quite lucky to have seen it. They are not native to the UK, but this one seems to have settled in the area for a while.

The fulvous whistling duck has lovely matching beak and feet

The light wasn't very good when we discovered the fulvous whistling duck but, as it was low tide, we were fortunate enough to see it both in and out of the water. I went down to the haven the following morning when the light was fabulous but the tide was in and the duck was nowhere in sight. However, as I turned my attention to some swans having a territorial dispute, I heard a strange whistling call and was thrilled to see the duck fly past me and land in some reeds beyond. I could just make it out amongst the reeds in the distance and was able to watch it preen for a while but the reeds prevented me for getting a decent image.

Territorial battles

Just as our local swans on the Thames are defending their territory from intruders, so the dominant pair at Titchfield Haven were busy seeing off the opposition. I could hear the familiar slap of wings and feet on water during take-off and landing and also the lovely 'whistling' sound of the wind in their wings during flight as the fleeing pair left the haven and headed out to sea.

He who fights and 'flies' away . . . !

On this occasion one of the swans under attack took the line of least resistance and flew to safety but I'm sure there will be plenty of battles in the coming breeding season.

A tree sparrow sunbathes in the chill morning air

It was a beautiful bright morning the following day, still very cold but the light was fabulous, so I visited the Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve. Next to the Visitor Centre is a café and garden with plenty of bird feeders around to keep the local birds well supplied during the cold spell. The tree sparrow (above) enjoyed some early morning sunshine after a frosty night while helping himself to some pyrocantha berries .

Tide's out

Low tide is lovely here leaving interesting patterns in the sand. Some of the rock pools also attract wading birds to the shoreline. We saw plenty of turnstones on the shore next to the harbour.

Back home on the Thames, the dominant swans are still patrolling their territory and chasing Bidou, the black swan, away. I'm delighted to see that the pair of little grebes still visit daily although they are far from habituated to humans and dive at the slightest of movements. In the garden, a pair of black caps now visit the bird table and peanut feeders and, even more exciting, a pair of nuthatches came to the most secluded on our peanut feeders this week. I'm hoping to get images of the black caps and nuthatches in the coming weeks.

Blue Tits and grey days

Blue Tit in garden

At certain times of the day the garden is full of blue tits and great tits making the most of the various feeding stations. They love sunflower hearts and are also keen on the food I put out for robins. In fact the robins often chase them away from 'their' feeding station. We also see a coal tit from time to time as well as the gregarious long tailed tits. We've nicknamed one of our blue tits "smudge" because his belly is mostly inky rather than yellow - far darker than the soft yellow belly of a typical blue tit.

One of the few lovely sunrises in the last couple of weeks

We haven't had many colourful sunrises recently so this was one to enjoy. I've been lucky enough to have lived in many different parts of the world and I do miss bright skies and sunny weather but I equally love England with its seasonal variations. When I lived in the Far East and parts of the Mediterranean sunrises and sunsets could be spectacular but I really missed the subtle changes in season and the sights, sounds and smells of the different seasons.

Aggression between swans

This is a grainy action image taken in low light but I hope I've captured the mood. The dominant swan isn't happy to find an intruder in his patch. Last week he attacked Bidou, the black swan, and I was able to fend him off for a while, having heard her distress calls, but the hostilities continued further upstream. She lived to tell the tale, as you'll see from her image below. I do hope she won't be drowned by him when territorial battles increase in the spring.

Bidou preens herself after a leisurely breakfast

Bidou now visits ahead of the dominant mute swans which means that she is fed without hassle or interruption. If I haven't seen her arrive she soon lets me know of her presence by emitting a mournful call on a regular basis. At night, if I hear her call, I then have to locate her in the dark. Fortunately her red beak is something of a giveaway.

Breakfast time for a cormorant

A pair of cormorants fish here daily and aren't starving by the looks of them. I watched this one swallow more than three bite-sized fish within five minutes. Most of the water birds appear uneasy when the cormorant gets too close to them - the little grebes completely freak out. A cormorant surfaced right next to a little grebe today and the tiny bird took off with fright.

A pair of little grebes

We've had a fair amount of the wet stuff of late so the river is flowing at some speed. Whether the strength of the current affects the little grebes or not, I can't say, but I haven't seen one for a few days. I was therefore delighted to see a pair of them swimming downstream today - in spite of their size they must be sturdy swimmers!

A pair of Little Grebes brighten up the gloom of the past few days

Robins are possibly our tamest garden birds

The other day I wandered up the island to see if I could spot a nuthatch that's been visiting gardens in the lagoon. I did catch sight of it as it flew away from a bird feeder with a whole peanut in its beak but it then flew off, probably back to Bushy Park. Instead this robin posed for me so my trip wasn't completely wasted. I shall make an effort over the next few weeks to get an image of the nuthatch as they are colourful visitors to our gardens.

One of a pair of dabchicks

On Boxing Day a friend mentioned that she'd seen a tiny 'duckling sized' water bird. She said she had thrown out some bread for it but that it had dived and disappeared so I guessed it was probably a little grebe, commonly known as a dabchick. The next day I spotted one on the far side of the river and for a few days it turned up between 8.00am and 10.00am, diving for fish along the Molesey bank. Occasionally it would risk crossing over to our side and I was lucky enough to catch a few glimpses of it as it swam past. Dabchicks are very shy birds and usually dive at the first sign of movement so I didn't dare open the French windows but decided to at least take some grab shots through the glass if the opportunity arose.

A second dabchick appeared for several days

After several days of watching and waiting I spotted a pair of dabchicks swimming across the river. They appear to have felt more secure than normal as they mingled with the tufted ducks, mallards, mandarin ducks and coots. Perhaps they felt there was safety in numbers? They hung around for several days but I've seen neither of them today.

Torrential rain might be a deterrent as the water drops falling from the branches of overhanging trees opposite are almost as big as the dabchicks themselves! I've often noticed how 'rain averse' ducks can be during persistent downpours. They all swim over to the far bank and shelter under the overhanging vegetation.

Dabchick refuses to be intimidated by Lonely

I could hardly believe my eyes yesterday when I watched the dabchick clamber on to the plank of one of the duck nesting boxes. Grebes in general are superb at swimming and diving but are ungainly on land as their legs are set well back on their bodies. This little one clambered onto the plank but soon slid down as it was wet and slippery. Undeterred it climbed back on and edged its way sideways quite some way up the ramp. Then it lay down and spent the next ten minutes preening. I saw it pull out a loose feather and swallow it - they sometimes do this as an aid to digestion. After a while, Lonely wandered up the plank as she considers this to be her nesting box and I watched with bated breath as the dabchick edged as close to the entrance to the nest box as possible, then turned and faced down Lonely. She seemed rather bemused at the lack of respect from such a tiny creature and, after staring at the dabchick for several minutes she turned and jumped off the plank.

I nearly missed a dental appointment because I couldn't drag myself away from such unexpected behaviour. It was delightful enough to be able to watch a little grebe at close quarters, albeit through the bedroom window, but to see it investigate the nest box and then watch it preen just six feet away was very special - a ten minutes well spent!

The river had begun to freeze over last week

Last week I was beginning to believe that the river would freeze over again. The lagoon had been frozen and the river itself was beginning to ice up but now heavy rain has been falling with only occasional spots of sleet/snow from time to time.

Friday, 12.00 midday, minutes after publishing this blog, the rain stopped and two dabchicks swam past the window when I was least expecting them!

Merry Christmas from a snowy river Thames

Kingfisher on our mooring bar

The lagoon has been frozen for much of the past week and, as a consequence, a kingfisher has been visiting our stretch of river in search of sustenance. Our pond is something of a magnet at the moment because the two Shibunkins are far from dormant and are proving too much of a temptation. Last year we lost five of the six fish and presumed they'd been taken either by a heron or a kingfisher (or both). We've since been told that the culprit may have been a grass snake! We saw one swimming away from our river bank across the river during the summer so that is another possibility.

I was hoping to grab a few more shots of this magnificent bird (through the kitchen window) but someone's cat had other ideas and scared it away. I'll have to hope that it returns and stays for a little longer another time. Whenever I've caught a glimpse of a kingfisher in the past it takes flight the moment it spots movement.

A view of Hurst Park from Garrick's Villa

While Dave and I were visiting Colin last week there was a blizzard and, for a while, we couldn't see across the river to Hurst Park. After lunch, however, the sky brightened and Colin showed us the magnificent views from upstairs.

Hampton Court Palace gardens

The snow really did lie deep and crisp and even during the week and the Palace was obliged to close the gardens to the public. I work at the Palace on Mondays and was therefore able to take this shot from King Williams Apartments, looking down over the Privy Garden.

Another view of Hampton Court Palace gardens

Early morning in the freezing cold

The big freeze lasted long enough for the river to start icing over. I had to break the ice in the stretch of water between our houseboat and the riverbank so that the ducks and swans could reach their feeding station. Only one duck had used his initiative and must have flown round to be fed. He was standing on the ice waiting for his breakfast! Even the main river had chunks of thin ice forming in places. It reminded me of New Year's Day in the year 2000 when the river froze solid and remained unnavigable for almost 10 days in spite of the efforts of the Environment Agency's ice-breaker.

Male Pochard in the early morning light

On one of the few really sunny mornings the beautiful early morning light enhanced the plumage of the various ducks, geese and swans. There was an amazing mix of wildfowl including eight mandarin ducks, a pair of pochards, a widgeon, all the usual suspects and Bidou, the black swan, whose feathers were encrusted with ice particles. She looked quite stunning as the sun glinted

off her frozen back.

The lagoon was partly frozen over last Sunday

A parakeet waiting its turn on the peanut feeder

The garden birds have been particularly hungry during the cold spell and more are taking advantage of the bird feeders to stave off hunger. When it comes to pecking order the parakeets have their own but they all defer to the woodpecker. I've seen some interesting fights between both breeds and the woodpecker always wins.

Birds, beasts, a bunny and trees

Mute swan spots a rival upstream

The mute swans, who took over the dominant role this autumn, seem to have been effective in driving away rival swans and we seldom see 'intruders' in the area. They aren't happy with Bidou the black swan but are less aggressive with her than with rival mute swans. Poor Bidou spends much of her time alone and we hear her forlorn high-pitch calls as she announces her presence to all and sundry. When she's in full voice she starts with a deep booming grunt culminating in a shrill high-pitched trumpeting call. When we haven't noticed her and she wants to draw our attention to the fact that she's waiting to be fed she limits the call to a more gentle, mid-pitched sound, loud enough to let us know she's around but not full volume.

Male tufted duck grooming

The tufted ducks used to be so shy when we came back to the UK in 1995 after living overseas for quite some years. As soon as the 'tufties' spotted movement in the house they would swim out to the middle of the river. I never saw one use our feeding platform. Now, many of them are so habituated to the feeding environment that they fly up at me when I go out to feed them. When the river is clear it's amazing to watch them dive, swimming some distance underwater for the wheat seem to enjoy so much. They also 'haul out' on our feeding platform to groom sometimes, which is lovely to watch. They have the most adorable way of communicating with each other and we often hear them chattering away to each other when the river is quiet.

Tufted duck gives a quick flap of his wings after grooming

Male 'tufties' have striking, beady eyes

Autumn colours in Bushy Park

Only a couple of weeks ago the trees in Bushy Park were ablaze with colour but the recent strong winds and bitterly cold weather has taken its toll and many of the trees are now almost bare.

Wild rabbit in one of the woodland gardens

Hunched up against the cold this rabbit appeared reluctant to move when I approached it. I stopped at what I considered to be a 'non-threatening' distance from it and observed it for a couple of minutes before moving on.

The Diana Fountain

After what seemed like an age the Diana Fountain was restored to its former beauty some time back and is a stunning central feature of Bushy Park. Here, it's pictured from the side with a backdrop of autumn foliage.

Red deer

I came across this stag while taking a short-cut through the bracken in the park. The rut was almost over and most of the stag activity had subsided. I hadn't noticed him as I trudged through the deep bracken and was somewhat surprised when he raised his head and gazed at me with bored eyes.

Misty and mellow scenes on the river

Mute swan in early morning mist

We've had some fabulous morning mists and late autumn sunshine to brighten the days as the nights draw in and daylight hours decrease. Temperatures fluctuate considerably with sharp frosts some mornings and warm, balmy days at other times. The leaves are changing colour dramatically, now, and Bushy Park is ablaze with colour. The (deer) rut is almost over but I watched two young roe bucks lock antlers in earnest today while a third one accompanied their action with a series of grunts.

Rowers launch their skiffs at Molesey Boat Club

Mute swan sets off after Bidou

The dominant mute swans are still patrolling this stretch vigorously and do not tolerate Bidou's presence. The male always drives her away but she bides her time and sneaks back after they've moved on. At least I haven't seen them fly after her which they do when they spot another mute swan in the area.

Mallard drake in all his glory

The drakes have all regained their definitive plumage, as have the mandarin ducks, but the grebes remain in eclipse for the winter. There's a huge amount of 'whistle/grunt' activity going on among the mallards as they continue to pair off. It never fails to make me smile.

Bright-eyed, young male tufted duck

Coot poses for a picture

A pair of aggressive coots frequent our feeding station and beat up most of the other waterbirds. The other day a pair of great crested grebes tried to 'haul out' on the same wide platform but the coots would have none of it and saw them off. When they do get the platform to themselves it's amazing to see the grebes standing (almost) upright. They're ungainly on land but they seem to like using our plank to relax on and for grooming.

This swan would fight his own shadow if he didn't have an interloper to see off!

Race day at Hampton Sailing Club

It's a colourful sight when all the sailing dinghy's are out in fine weather. Above is a picture of the race from a distance with Hampton Church in the background, downstream towards Molesely Lock.

Organised chaos as the dinghies negotiate the marker buoys

Female mallard with straw on her beak

This female has been showing a great deal of interest in both duck nesting boxes. I watch her and her partner waddle up and down the planks to the two boxes, apparently trying to decide which box will be best when Spring comes. Meanwhile Lonely, who likes to think she owns one of the boxes, shows enormous disapproval when any other female looks into 'her' box.

Lonely keeps a watchful eye on her 'preferred' nesting box

Male pochard

We hadn't seen the pochards for ages and then one day they suddenly appeared, stayed for several hours, then disappeared again. I haven't seen them since. We have had two young mandarin ducks hanging around in the chilly weather and I think they were last year's babies as they weren't the least nervous when I went outside to feed them. They were made most unwelcome by the regular pair of mandarin ducks, though, and I haven't seen them now for at least a week.

New kids on the block

Bidou's lonely

Bidou keeps calling out and we think she must be lonely as she now has no 'surrogate' family to tag along with. The family of mute swans appears to have been ousted from their territory by a pair of younger swans. It's been upsetting to watch the newcomers chase and attack the cygnets - we've managed to protect them a couple of times but don't always see the attacks happen. The cygnets can't fly yet so we do hope they are OK. Equally, we haven't seen either of the parents. We were called out to help one of them about 10 days ago - it had hidden behind a houseboat close to the weir and was finding it difficult to squeeze through the gap between the boat and freedom. The new swans aren't keen on having Bidou tag along with them so she's without friends at the moment.

Female mallard

Most of this year's ducklings are fully grown and starting to find a partner. Some of the drakes are still in partial eclipse but you can see their plumage beginning to change. At certain times of the day they all congregate in the middle of the river and 'check out' the talent, so there's plenty of 'showing off' by the males and 'beaking off' by the females. The drakes collectively emit a high pitched whistle while raising their heads and chests, then immediately make a deep grunting sound as they do the reverse and raise their tails. As the tails rise up they all stretch out their necks close to the water and swim manically around. Females who've already selected a partner 'beak off' at the hopeful drakes, quacking in a disapproving way, their beaks pointing at the rejected males while swimming away from them with the partner(s) of their choice.

A strange juxtaposition

I caught a glimpse of a swan with what seemed like unusual markings but when it approached I saw that it had a dark feather stuck to its white plumage.

The 'ugly duckling' is turning into a beautiful swan

Until recently, when the new arrivals started to patrol this stretch of the river, our family of mute swans were still together. Occasionally, the male cygnet would turn up ahead of the rest. The female always stayed with mum. Above you can see the male's plumage starting to change. The female, who was considerably smaller and much more friendly, had no white plumage showing.

Close-up of the male cygnet's wing feathers

Posing for the camera

I should imagine that the male cygnet was close to receiving flying lessons from mum and dad but we haven't had the joy of watching his first attempts as we've seen no sign of any of the family. I haven't been out in the boat recently but tomorrow we hope to have a look for them. There's a large 'non-breeding' flock of swans at Kingston, so perhaps our family have headed downstream.

The last image I took of the family

The two fat ladies

These lovely old girls have survived the season and turn up regularly for a helping of wheat. They like to be hand-fed once they've eaten a little from the communal plank - they're very well behaved and never fight each other. We know when they're around because they quack extremely loudly and we get no peace. As soon as the wheat hits the plank the decibel levels return to normal.