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