Nest box wars

There's a housing shortage in London . . . for waterfowl! We've been watching in amazement as the mallard's chosen nest box is also a female tufted duck's preferred home and is attracting the attention of a pair of mandarin ducks, too.

Yesterday we saw the female 'tuftie' sit at the entrance to the nest while the mallard was inside incubating her eggs - she now has 9.  The 'tuftie' lay down flat on the plank with her head looking inside the box which upset the mallard who suddenly leant forward and pecked at the tufted duck.  The 'tuftie' fell off the plank into the river but made several more attempts to enter the preferred nest. Eventually she gave up and, reluctantly it seems, made use of the other nest box (box 2) to lay an egg. There are now three eggs in that box but we're not sure whether they all belong to the tufted duck. Yesterday a mandarin duck was eyeing up both boxes and her mate has been showing an interest in them both too!

Female mandarin duck on mallard's plank

We can't tell whether this is the same female that entered the mallard's nest box a couple of days ago and rolled all her eggs around before leaving.  Yesterday evening, as we were returning from a trip out on our boat, we saw a female mandarin duck coming out of box 2.  I should have checked to see whether another egg had been laid but I think it unlikely.  However. I was surprised to see a male mandarin standing guard over the entrance to the box for several hours yesterday morning which prevented the 'tuftie' from using the box.  When she (the female tufted duck) finally gave up on the mallard's box she had to wait until the male mandarin vacated the plank to her box. 

 Mrs. Mandy enjoying the evening sun on the mallard's ramp

 Male mandarin duck in moult

Most of the male mandarin ducks are now in moult and looking rather sorry for themselves.  Even the few males that still have their striking plumage have lost their magnificent russet 'sail' feathers although they still have their crests.

 Our hybrid 'tuftard'

Our hybrid duck, a cross between a tufted duck and a red crested pochard, has been around for several years now and is more at home with us. He even comes to feed at the front of the house with the others and, for the first time, climbed on to the large floating platform outside our patio windows yesterday. Unfortunately some canada geese chased him off before I could take a picture of him grooming.

 The grebe family

Our family of great crested grebes is growing and the youngsters seem too big to climb onto their parents' backs now.  It's lovely to watch mum and dad feed them small fish.  Apart from two cygnets and a few goslings on this stretch of the river, we've as yet seen no ducklings and no baby coots here. However, we saw several herring gulls further upstream and between them, the crows, the heron and the pike most young waterfowl don't stand a chance.

 Girl in a kayak

It was a beautiful evening after the torrential downpours of the morning and river users made the most of the chance to get out in the warm sunlight.  This is a view of Molesey Lock, where work to replace the weir sluices continues, hence the large red crane.

A view of Hampton village yesterday evening

It was such a lovely evening yesterday and we couldn't resist a boat trip.  We never tire of the riverscape and all the lovely wildlife the area supports.  Further upstream we saw four cygnets, more young grebes and a mature heron as well as the herring gulls.

And finally a comment on the behaviour of a young starling in the garden yesterday.  While two adults were on the regular peanut feeders the youngster found that it could just get its head inside the opening to an alternative peanut feeder and extract whole peanuts.  As we watched it successfully took out 6 or 7 peanuts with its beak but was then unable to eat them whole and so dropped every one of them.  It didn't appear to have learned from its parents to peck at the regular feeders and take smaller portions.  It might have finally succeeded, given time, but a parakeet flew onto the feeder and chased the young starling away.

While we were away . . .

While we were away the ducklings hatched as did the coots and the blue tits fledged.  When we got back there were no ducklings and no baby coots. In fact, the only 'ducklings' we've seen are mandarin babies.  There were three with one mother and two with another but they have also disappeared. At least the swans still have two cygnets which seem to be doing well. As for the blue tits we can't tell how they fared.  Some may have survived but it is impossible to identify which youngsters might be the ones from our nest box.

On the day we went away the parents spent most of the morning feeding the youngsters.  Below are a few photos of their activities.

 A tasty morsel for one of the chicks

Sunflower hearts went down well, too

 I'm hungry . . . one of the babies gets impatient

 Another mouth to feed

We hope that most of the young blue tits made it this year.  Last year a neighbour's Bengal cat caught one of the chicks and I rescued another after it flew into the house!  Unfortunately I saw the same cat sitting on our car in an attempt to get as close as possible to the fledglings in the nest.  One false move by any one of them and the cat would get them.  I moved the car to make life as difficult as possible for the cat but it's a demon hunter.

It's now five weeks since the ducklings and coots hatched and their nest boxes are occupied again. When we got back from holiday one of the mandarin ducks was using the coots' nest as a temporary shelter for her three youngsters.  At the same time a tufted duck was checking out both boxes, as was a mallard.

Nothing much seemed to happen for a while but when I looked inside one of the boxes there were two small eggs in it.  We watched more closely and noticed a tufted duck going into the box on a regular basis.  However we also spotted a mallard using the same box.  She has taken it over now and is sitting full time so there are likely to be at least seven eggs.  

Below are two screen grabs taken by the nest camera which is connected to our TV set.

Mrs. tufty rolling the eggs

 Mrs. mallard is now in residence

As I'm writing this I am watching the female mallard sitting in the nest box via a camera linked to our television.  We haven't counted the number of eggs yet as she spends most of her time on the nest now. However, while she was taking a break for food and a wing stretch yesterday I glanced at the TV and got quite a shock.  A female mandarin duck was inside and was carefully rolling all the eggs!  Her partner was standing at the entrance to the box as if to guard it.  I have no idea why a mandarin duck would roll another duck's eggs.   

Meanwhile, the tufted duck is still trying to use the same box and has ignored the coots' nest box up till now.  Perhaps I need to clean it out again since it was used by the mandarin and her three babies for about a week.  I need to get more straw, too, once it's been cleaned. I never cease to be surprised at how creatures adapt to our urban world.  It's most unusual for a coot to build a nest inside a box. It equally improbable that a female mandarin duck would roll a mallard female's eggs.  Mandarins nest in trees but I'm just wondering whether next year a mandarin duck might change the habits of a lifetime and use one of our boxes to raise her young.

Update on the pochards and coots

Two of the male red crested pochards spend most of their days resting on our plank or diving for wheat. We only see the female and a male pochard once a day, after dark, when they come to be fed.  She is very secretive, probably because she was regularly attacked by the spare males a couple of weeks ago.

One of the male pochards having a rest

The coots are behaving remarkably well this year.  There seems to be no competition for nesting space so there are fewer fights.  Coots are querulous creatures and often get tetchy with each other but our pair haven't had many 'domestics' this season so far.

 One of the coots guarding the nest box

Whenever either coot hears the patio door open or sees us on the deck they rush back to their nest to defend it from us.  This one is keeping a beady eye on me because it saw me open the door.  Once it had decided that I wasn't up to mischief it relaxed and climbed into the nest box.

Coot entering the box

More and more mandarin males

The number of mandarin male ducks visiting the feeding station has increased this week.  At least four are regulars at one time and the old boy whose plumage is past its best spends a lot of time here.  A pair of mandarin ducks also visit every evening and as soon as the other males spot the female they are after her like fighter aircraft. She usually has to make a fair few attempts to feed before she is able to do so without being hassled.

 The old mandy sees off a rival from his favourite feeding spot

The boys spend several hours loitering on our boat and on the plank below, feeding on occasions, sometimes flying off for a while and then returning for more food and male company. I assume that none of the lone males has a partner since only one female ever turns up with her chosen mate.

 A fine figure of a male but he's without a partner

The swans have continued to chase each other and there are frequent noisy chases as the weaker swans do their best to escape the dominant male. So far we haven't seen any fatal battles, I'm relieved to report.  It's so distressing watching one swan drown another and we always do our best to intervene but it isn't always possible.

Another day, another chase

Yesterday we went to 'celebrate the life' of Colin Hunter, a lovely, much admired and respected friend who died last year . His family held the party in his honour at Garrick's Temple and lawn, just upstream from us, and many of his friends turned up to remember him and pay tribute to his memory.  Though this image is not of local wildlife, Colin cared about the environment and was very fond of animals, especially his pet dogs and birds both here and in more exotic parts of the world. The Temple, pictured below, lies between Colin's former home and our island.

Some of the many friends & family inside Garrick's Temple

New visitor

This goose is a newcomer to our stretch of the river.  It is people friendly and soon made itself at home for a day.  It arrived yesterday and was happy to join us for feeding time and was on our plank this morning but has been absent all day.

New goose on the block

Flare Tail is being driven off her nest much more frequently these days - the shirt's no longer working as a 'scarecrow'.  However she seems to be coping and, during daylight hours, is able to get some wheat and a 'wash and brush up'.

Flare Tail being seen off her nest

A regular visitor to the garden

The jays are frequenting the bird table and helping themselves to the peanuts.  They grab four or five at a time, seeming to store them in their beaks before flying off.  Sometimes one of them stops to feed itself but I assume they must have hungry youngsters to feed.

Magpies are also spending a lot of time in the garden and they always chase off the jays.  They're very adept at finding food, even when I've placed it somewhere I think they would prefer to avoid. Unfortunately they are also very observant and spot where smaller garden birds are nesting.  I've seen them perch on nest boxes and steal the baby birds from their nests.

 A jay about to raid the bird table

Although the swan fights have decreased in number they are no less ferocious.  When the dominant swan decides to chase off its rivals the sound of his wing beats and the raw power in his take offs is impressive.

A recent swan chase

The attacks on Flare Tail have also decreased and she is now left alone for hours at a time during the day.  Unfortunately the night time attacks are still regular, especially from 4.00am onwards, but at least she is able to incubate her eggs for hours at a time.

If she is chased off the nest during the day she sometimes takes the opportunity to do some 'pond dipping', grubbing around for water snails and the like in the silt.  She loves the pond and spends quite a while in it when she gets the chance. If I see her there I put some wheat out at the feeding station for her and she and her partner come running down the rill to be fed.

 Flare Tail heading down the rill for some wheat

If she's lucky and there are no stray drakes hanging around she sometimes enjoys the luxury of a long preen on the plank before heading back to the nest.

Duck yoga

The tidiest of coots' nests

When both coots were away from the nest for a few minutes we briefly lifted the lid to count eggs and check whether the twigs we'd seen them carry to the box were being used.  As soon as one of the coots spotted us it raced back to see what we were up to.  As you can see, it was more curious than upset and didn't even 'shriek' or stamp its webbed feet.

As soon as we put the lid back the coot went inside without any fuss even though we were both standing by the nest box. I think that they are so used to us feeding them that they don't consider us to be a threat.

Coots take it in turn to incubate the eggs and there are regular shift changes.  They are normally very protective parents but I have, once in a while, seen an adult coot peck a baby coot to death.

 One of the coots about to enter its nest

Every evening a few very hungry female mallards fly in to gulp down some wheat after having been cooped up on their nests for many hours.  They are often 'ambushed' by 'rogue' drakes that hang around the area for food.  Flare Tail's partner drives any rivals away from his 'girl's' nesting area but the other drakes are plain opportunists hoping to mate with any female mallard unlucky enough to be caught by them!

A hungry mallard desperate for food.

Yesterday evening one of the females flew on to our deck in an attempt to avoid the rogue males and also in the hope of attracting our attention to give her some food.  She managed to eat some food before she was chased off the deck.