The mystery of the duck eggs

We've had a number of surprises in the last few weeks, not the least being the appearance of a grass snake in the river. We saw unusual movement in the water while we were having lunch and spotted a grass snake swimming away from the direction of the coots' nest. We're unsure as to whether or not it took one of the eggs but the coots' eggs seem to have disappeared. The snake was later spotted by another islander who followed it in his boat until it disappeared behind the hull of Riverdream.

We are also intrigued as to which species of duck is the phantom egg layer in one of our riverside nesting boxes. There has been one egg in one of the boxes for a few weeks now and then one appeared in the other box. Meanwhile the young mandarin ducks were using the second box as a night time resting place. Last week there was a second egg in the box and then a third. We were away on Friday but returned to find a fourth egg in the box on Saturday morning. Meanwhile, the lone egg in the other box has disappeared. We still don't know which duck is nesting there. We've seen a tufted duck hanging around and occasionally wandering up into the box but there are also a number of mallards in the vicinity at present. The coot also uses the ramp to the box regularly and I've seen it climb up into the nest box. As the coot was responsible for removing all the straw bedding from both boxes to line its own nest, the box is now empty apart from a few dark downy feathers. To complicate matters further the crow has been showing interest in the boxes, too, and may have raided the box of its one egg. Alternatively, perhaps the grass snake took it?

Young tufted duck

A young tufted duck has been hanging around for the last few days. Yesterday it spent several hours sleeping on our plank and, though it is a little nervous, it seems to know that it will be safe on the plank. The coots, mallards and mandarin ducks keep chasing it away but it just dives out of harms way before they can peck it and then resurfaces and comes back when things have quietened down.

We had another surprise this week when Lonely turned up with three sizeable ducklings. She'd been coming for supper every day and I thought she might be nesting again but she's been smarter than that. She has obviously decided to keep her ducklings away from this part of the river until they are big enough to stand a chance against the many predators. Other ducks are also turning up with two and three week old ducklings. I've noticed at least three sets of mothers hanging around Garrick's Ait which is obviously a much safer environment for the young. We saw some young tufted ducks there recently and think that the youngster pictured above may be one of her brood. There was also a mallard with five babies who, now that her young are too large for the average predator, brings the kids down here for snacks.

Great crested grebe

The grebes are still around but most of the territorial fighting has stopped. It's amazing to see the size of some of the fish they manage to swallow - they must have huge necks and throats. On the subject of huge we saw an enormous carp leap clear of the water right in front of us the other day and I saw a repeat performance a couple of days ago. It isn't often that we see such large fish leap clean out of the water on the Thames but, when we lived in Belize, we often saw tarpon leaping and manta rays flying through the air.

Waterlily in my pond

My first flower of the season opened for a few days during the hot weather last week. There's another one on the way but, in the meantime, the watercress is taking over most of the pond and I shall have to harvest it today or there'll be no flow over the cascade. It's delicious in salads so we'll enjoy it for lunch.

Young mandarins with mum

This is a shot of the young mandarins several weeks ago. They are now almost indistinguishable from their mum and one of them is showing signs of independence. They are a little bit more wary of us now, which is probably a good thing as they are, after all, wild birds. Several other mandarin ducks turn up at the same time as the family but are driven off by mum and the youngsters. I can't tell whether either are males mandarins in moult or other females. There's no doubt as to the pecking order - mum and the kids rule the roost!

Mandarin ducks, grebes and damselflies

Mandarin duck enjoying the setting sun

Mandarin duck having an evening preen

The mandarin ducks arrive for their evening feed at around 7.30pm and then use our dinghy for a relaxing preen. This one looked particularly fine in the evening light. Our female mandarin with the four youngsters appears to be a single parent although I suspect that her partner is the male that's in moult and has already lost his fine feathers.

One of the young mandarin ducks at the nest box entrance

It's been a trying time for the mandarin duck family. The mother was using one of the nest boxes at night to keep her young safe but the fox disturbed them one night and now she and the kids only come to the nest boxes during the day as a temporary resting spot. One of the youngsters is slower to learn than its siblings and the mother has had to keep an eye on it while, at the same time, accompanying the other three who always come to the patio doors to be fed. Dave made a little plank for the 'slow' one but it still didn't know how to climb out onto our deck. We've had many a worrying moment when mum has swam off with her three and the other duckling has been nowhere in sight. The less agile duckling would always go to one of the nest boxes and wait for the rest of the family to finish feeding which was sensible, at least. Finally, however, it discovered how to hop up onto our deck and we were relieved that mum no longer had to divide her attention between them all. Two days ago, though, we heard the sound of a distressed mandarin duck and later guessed that one of her youngsters must have been injured. Mum hung around the nest box with all four of them for ages and we didn't see them leave that evening. The next day she appeared with only three ducklings, which was most upsetting.

I half hoped that the fourth one would turn up unexpectedly but mum called round regularly with only three youngsters and we gave up on the fourth one. Last night, however, a lone mandarin duckling turned up to be fed and this morning Mum was back with all four, so we can only assume that the injured one was kept somewhere safe until it had had a chance to recover. Sadly, one of its leg is badly damaged but otherwise it seems to be feeding well and can keep up with the others. We hope that it will eventually heal as we've seen this happen with injured mallards.

Mandarin amongst the flowers

This particular female mandarin loves sitting in my flower pot while she waits for me to put food out. If I don't respond quickly enough she flies onto the garden table right next to the patio doors and stares in at me to make me feel guilty.

Mum resting on the deck in the sunlight

Mum with three of the kids after feeding

Great crested grebe stretching

The other morning the grebes started courting, growling to each other, raising their crests, while the male presented the female with muddy weed. The pair of them rose out of the water and almost rubbing chests together in a courtship dance. Unfortunately it was very early in the morning and the light was dull and grey so it wasn't possible to get good images of their behaviour but it was wonderful to watch. After about an hour, they suddenly turned aggressive because another grebe was in 'their' territory. Several vicious battles ensued but most of the chasing was done underwater.

Grebe attacking an intruder

The fighting was intermittent but lasted about half an hour until territories had been established. At one point they were beating their wings against each other but then they would slide beneath the water and surface over on the far side of the river.

Grebe displaying aggression

Every so often one of the grebes would flare its wings and make itself look large and threatening to the intruder. It was superb to watch and proved quite effective at making the intruder think twice before advancing into enemy territory.

Grebe searching for fleeing intruder

Damselfly at pond

I'm not sure whether this is a damselfly or a dragonfly but I think it's the former. If anyone knows otherwise please let me know. We've noticed a number of damselflies in the garden and one regularly rests on this stem in our pond.

Damselflies mating on fruit tree in garden

Damselflies mating

Cygnets, mandarin babies and grebes

Swan with four cygnets

Our swans finally produced seven cygnets and brought them round regularly to feed. Bidou, the black swan, kept them company when she was allowed to but the mute swans didn't tolerate her getting too close to their young. After several days the adults turned up with fewer and fewer cygnets and now the pen is left with only two. At least these two are growing rapidly and are now less likely to be taken by the pike, herring gull, crow or heron. They still hitch a ride on her back but I don't think that that will continue for many more days.

Cygnets choose the easy option

Two male mandarin ducks enjoy the late afternoon sun

There are at least four male mandarin ducks that loaf around without partners at the moment. Whenever pairs of mandarins arrive the females seem most put out by the advances of the 'spare' boys. We have an unusual situation in that one female mandarin has five babies and she wants nothing to do with any male duck. We think her mate is the male who is already in moult and looks quite sorry for himself in his decidedly faded finery.

The female is really good at defending her young, who are quite feisty too, and we have the pleasure of watching her and her youngsters using one of our nesting boxes as a safe nocturnal haven. It's really strange to see her shepherding her young up the plank to bed every evening. We had noticed her checking out both boxes a while back but, as mandarin ducks nest in trees we thought we'd never see them use our boxes. The strange thing is that this female kept checking it out even when there was one of Lonely's eggs in it.

Unusually, a female tufted duck has taken to checking out both nest boxes and went and looked inside box 1 when the 'mandy' family were inside! The female tufty then went into the other nest box (2) and spent ages moving the straw around before coming out again.

What makes things more confusing is that the mandy and her young used the other box,(box 1) early yesterday evening but the kids were restless and not ready for bed so they all swam off. Later, the kids came back and went into box 1 again and mum panicked when she found her usual box (2) empty. Finally she rounded them all up and they spent the night back in box 2, initially sitting with all five ducklings outside on the plank and later moving them inside for extra protection. Some idiot woke us up at 3.00am this morning speeding up and down the river and I noticed that Mrs. mandy was standing guard outside the box until the disturbance stopped.

This morning we found an egg inside box 1 and we don't know whether it was laid by the tufted duck or another mallard. No doubt time will tell and we'll know whether the box is about to be occupied again.

Mrs. mandy and one of her ducklings on the ramp to box 1

Young grebe swallowing huge fish

I couldn't believe the size of the fish this young grebe managed to swallow. Mind you it spent at least 5 minutes fighting with it and I thought it would give up! When it finally gulped down the main body the grebe opened its beak and I could just see the tail disappearing down its throat.

Only a little more to swallow

Adult grebe swimming over to one of its young with a small fish

The parents have taken responsibility for a youngster each and spend much of the time looking after the one they're in charge of. The kids keep them really busy and it's exhausting just watching them feed their demanding youngsters. The kids never seem to stop squealing for food.

Baby long tailed tit recovering after flying into a window

I was watering plants on the garden deck one morning this week when I spotted what looked like a dead bird on the deck. When I went over to pick it up it was still warm and it opened its eyes. It gripped my fingers really hard so I held it safely for a while and then, when it showed signs of recovering, I placed it on the plum tree and it rested there for a minute or two before flying over to the Molesey side of the river. We think it must have flown into one of our windows and stunned itself and I was delighted to see it recover. It was so delicate and so very beautiful.

Mallards at the pond

The ducks are taking advantage of our good nature and regularly foraging in the garden pond. Unfortunately they seem to like the taste o the water lily leaves but at least they leave the watercress alone. I'm hoping they'll allow the water lily to flower this year!

Peonies and white irises

The irises are magnificent this year but are being outshone by the fabulous scented peonies that I planted last year. The garden looks very lush at the moment but the irises fade all too soon.

HB launches ducklings . . . with a little help

HB returns to her nest

HB normally only left her nest after dark but, on one of the warmer days, she made an exception and grabbed a quick meal and 'comfort' break. In spite of our original doubts as to the suitability of her choosing in hanging basket next to our patio doors as her nest, the site proved to be a perfect choice once she'd got used to our comings and goings. Occasionally we would forget that she was there and suddenly become aware of a pair of unblinking brown eyes staring at us.

HB's ducklings after hatching on the night before their 'launch'

Once all (or at least most of) the eggs have hatched the mother keeps them warm and waits for the right moment to lead them from the nest.This usually happens during the morning, sometimes as early as 5.00am, sometimes as late as 11.30am, although there may well be exceptions to this.

HB gets ready to 'fly the coup'

We knew HB 's ducklings were hatching on the day before their 'launch' because she was sitting higher and higher in the hanging basket. If she'd had many more ducklings they wouldn't have all fitted in! At around 9.30am the next day the ducklings were ready to go and HB showed signs of needing to leave the nest. For about thirty minutes she became active and anxious, clucking quietly to the 12 ducklings filling the nest.

Ready to start a new life

For a several minutes the ducklings stayed put showing some reluctance to take the plunge. HB became frantic and her clucking became more and more imperative and strident.

Some seem more hesitant about leaving the safety of their nest

It didn't take long for the more eager ducklings to 'take flight'. Others needed more encouragement and by this time HB was kicking up a huge fuss in her efforts to hurry them up.

With a little help . . .

Two of the ducklings waiting in the river for their siblings to join them drifted off downstream on their own and HB was unable to chase after them because she needed to stay with the rest of the brood in the river and encourage the others in the nest to join her. She became so distressed that Dave decided to give her a helping hand by placing the remaining ducklings in the river. One chose to leap but the others were gently placed in the water. HB immediately gathered them around her and chased after the other two. She finally corralled all 12 of them and headed off upstream after a quick feed. We haven't seen her since and can only hope she led the ducklings to a safer environment.

Swans still fight over territory

The dominant swan is often absent on this stretch of the river and while he's away other swans take turns to 'play' boss. Bidou, the black swan, also believes it's her duty to drive away rival swans so we sometimes have four or five swans jostling for a position of power. It's not dissimilar to the power play that has been UK politics over the past few weeks!

Magpie shelters from torrential downpour

Last Sunday I watched a cheeky magpie seek shelter from the pouring rain. He tore some leaves from the grapevine in order to provide himself with a more comfortable perch, and sat there for over an hour.

Lonely male Mandarin duck

At least three pairs of Mandarin ducks visit at feeding time and another four 'spare' males hang around for much of the day. This one has taken to sitting on our deck or on the boat cover. The males are stunning to look at and their courtship displays are impressive. The sounds they make to attract a female, however, are rather less so . . . something between a grunt and a person swallowing a belch!

Here today . . .

Coot on Lonely's ramp

I doubt whether Lonely liked the coot using her plank as a place to preen when it came off its nest, but the coot's presence was advantageous in one way. While it 'stood guard' on the plank no other ducks dared attack Lonely. However, I saw a most unusual sight one evening while Lonely was off her nest and the coot was absent. I noticed a male mandarin duck standing on the plank and then, to my amazement, saw its mate come out from inside Lonely's box. What on earth she was doing entering another duck's nest is beyond my comprehension.

When Lonely's mate wasn't around she was sometimes dragged off her nest by one of the 'waiters'. Below you can see her swimming back to her nest with her mate.



On the days immediately preceding the hatching of the ducklings, Lonely's mate stood guard on the plank most of the time. While she and her mate were away feeding on Thursday evening, we peeked inside her box and counted five ducklings and some eggs still to hatch, so we knew the ducklings would emerge on the following day. Lonely had been excellent at protecting her nest so we had high hopes that she would be a good mother. How wrong can one be? At around lunchtime on Friday, after many failed attempts to lure her ducklings from the safety of their nest box, Lonely eventually coaxed one out.

Duckling at nest entrance

The duckling swam around with Mum for a few moments and then Lonely left it to go back into the nest and urge the others to make a break for it. Fortunately the baby found its way back up the plank and waited.

Lonely with two ducklings

There were nine ducklings in all but only one other emerged from the box. The rest refused to budge and, after about 10 minutes of calling to them Lonely seemed to get bored. She and her mate swam upstream with the two ducklings, leaving the rest in the box.

Lonely with four

About three hours later Lonely returned minus the ducklings and coaxed out four more ducklings. We hoped that she had left the other two in a safe place but she showed no signs of going back upstream. She then swam off with the four, leaving three more in the box. While she was hanging around she was attacked by four 'waiters' and I had to chase them off. By this time the ducklings were scattered and I feared that the coot would attack them. Lonely did return and collect them and that was the last we saw of them!

By late afternoon, I heard a duckling in distress and Dave managed to catch it in a net so that we could return it to the box. Just as we were about to do so, Lonely returned and we just had time to put back the duckling before she went into the nest box. She now had just three ducklings and when they finally emerged and swam round to the back with her we weren't hopeful that they would survive. I think Lonely was attacked again and flew off and we never saw the ducklings again. She returned to her nest to check whether there were any left but, basically, all nine had disappeared in the space of a day and a half. Ironically, Lonely has started inspecting the neighbouring nest box, no doubt for a second attempt at rearing young!

Our duck in a basket however, is getting more used to us being around. Below you can see her preparing to head back to her nest in the hanging basket.

Fox claims another victim

HB insists on nesting in the hanging basket

A fox climbed the narrow steps onto Wotnot's top deck and killed a mallard in the small hours of Thursday morning. The duck had been sitting on eggs for more than two weeks. Claudia was woken up by unusual sounds and went to investigate. To her amazement the fox had managed to lift the lid on the nesting box and, sadly, Claudia was just too late to save the duck. Caught in the act, the fox jumped from the top deck when Claudia went to see what was causing the disturbance.

Dave undertook the distressing task of dealing with the aftermath as both Claudia and I were too upset. It would seem that the fox or several foxes had been busy that night as a Canada goose had also been killed in Linda & Lisa's garden and we heard that a female mallard's body was removed from inside another islander's dinghy. This was worrying news, especially when HB failed to show up all morning. Usually, we would see her with her mate on the other side of the river and she would turn up for a quick feed around 11.00am, but there was no sign of either of them all morning. Dave and I assumed the worst and were feeling quite down, but she surprised us both by turning up at 2.30pm for a late start. Perhaps, because of the warmer weather, she didn't feel the need to start sitting so early?

As you can see from the picture of HB (above) she has chosen an unusual spot for a nest. In spite of the fact that this hanging basket is just outside our patio doors which are in frequent use, HB obviously knows a thing or two about keeping out of harm's way. I think she'll be pretty safe from the fox, even if it climbs on to the garden deck, and she's also less prone to attack from rogue drakes. From our viewpoint she makes it difficult for us to use our boat without disturbing her but at least she is getting used to our opening and closing the door right next to her. We'll just have to learn to live with each other. When we thought she'd been another victim of marauding drakes and had drowned, we were really sad.

Lonely heads back to her nest box

Every morning at around 4.15am one of 'the waiters' tries to attack Lonely in her nest box and we hear the sound of her taking flight from the box. Fortunately, this doesn't happen much during the day so she is able to sit on her eggs undisturbed for hours at a time. Yesterday, though, she was attacked at around 9am and she took the opportunity to feed and have a 'wash and brush up' before returning to the nest.

An unusual symbiotic relationship has evolved between her and the coots. They frequently used her plank to 'haul out' on for a preen after coming off their nest and stand guard at the base of her 'gangplank '. I watched with amusement last night as one of the coots saw off three rogue males which were attempting to attack Lonely in her box. It just stood its ground and 'swore' at the three drakes until they gave up and swam away!

Male tufted duck takes a drink

Most of the tufted ducks have gone their separate ways for the breeding season but several pairs still visit us every day. This one, and its mate (pictured below) have both shown signs of interest in the second nesting box on the river.

Female tufted duck

I was surprised to see this female emerging from the second nesting box by the river the other day. The box seems to intrigue quite a few of the waterfowl including the Mandarin ducks, the coots and the tufted ducks. The only ones not to have investigated it are the Pochards.

Bumble bee collecting pollen

On the first really warm day this month I watched a bee making the most of the sunshine as it flew around gathering pollen. We've had quite a few of these beautiful creatures in the garden recently.

Blackbird waits his turn to bathe in the pond

The other day we watched a Blackbird try to use his favourite spot in the pond for a bath. Unfortunately for him a drake had other ideas and wouldn't let the Blackbird anywhere near the cascade. After several attempts, the bird flew to one side and waited patiently for the drake to go. He then flew straight to his 'safe' place and had a wonderful bath.

Worth the wait

It was worth the wait for all of us. The Blackbird had a good long bath and we spent an enjoyable few minutes watching events unfold.

The chases continue

There seem to be three pairs of mute swans around at the moment. This would suggest to me that the dominant pair are losing 'respect'. UPH and her partner are gentle swans and don't really pose a threat but the other pair are quite fierce and may well challenge our resident swans for the territory next year.

Bidou's nest was raided last week, presumably by a fox. One of her eggs was found on the road, some way from the island in the lagoon where she has been nesting and another eggs had rolled down to the water's edge. As her eggs are much larger than a duck's eggs we assume the egg must have been carried away by a fox. Certainly a Magpie would not have been able to carry off such a large egg.

Chrissy phoned to ask what to do as she was worried that a fox would kill Bidou. She was thinking of netting off the area to try and protect the black swan but in the end the decision was taken away from her by Bidou herself who decided to abandon the nest. We're sad that, yet again, Bidou is without both a mate and a nest, but at least she's safe. I've missed having her around so it's nice to see her here on a regular basis.

Male Pochard arriving for a quick snack

The male Pochard visits us quite frequently but we only see the female for breakfast, lunch (sometimes) and dinner. She is nesting somewhere on Garrick's Ait and is very secretive. Last year she was seen with ducklings but they only survived a few days before predators took them.

Magnolia in bloom

On the first warm day last week my magnolia finally opened its buds and is now in full bloom. It looks so lovely next to the pond and is sweet scented, too.