A partner for Bidou, or not?

This camera-shy dabchick (little grebe) took ages to photograph as it dived every time I tried to focus on it. I ended up with plenty of blurred images or glimpses of tails and feet disappearing from view. Several photographer friends told me that they, too, find dabchicks a challenge. We decided that their fluffy little bodies confuse the automatic focus and it's better to focus on the head and eye to get the sharpest results.

This heron, photographed at the Barnes Wetland Centre, was looking mean and hungry. It wasn't too long before it struck lucky and speared a fish. They are magnificent birds to watch as they move stealthily along river banks and reedbeds, poised and ready to strike when they spot their preferred prey.

A result of my spoiling the garden birds with sunflower hearts is a garden full of sunflowers in the most unlikely places. We've had one grow and flower from a tiny gap in our decking and there are at least a dozen other sunflowers scattered around the garden. They're so lovely I haven't the heart to remove them even when they are in the wrong place.


Many of the islanders got excited on Monday when we saw Bidou and another black swan swimming upstream. We couldn't work out whether Bidou was chasing after the other swan to catch up with it or to chase it off. Sadly, the latter was true. We had all hoped that she had finally found at least a friend, or better still, a mate.


She calls by for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and takes time to preen her feathers every morning, except when the mute swan family see her off. She is an elegant looking swan but still seems nervous of us when feeding. She flinches when I throw her the wheat and snatches at the food nervously. Perhaps she had a bad experience when she was younger?


As the breeding season comes to a close and the ducks, swans and geese are going into moult, the mute swan family are slightly less aggressive with Bidou. Occasionally, the cygnets even allow her to feed alongside them. As you can see, if you've looked at my earlier postings, these two have grown considerably and are almost at the stage when their parents will chase them away and stop looking after them. Life can be so cruel!

Back from holidays and it must be summer!

Summer's arrived and the swallows have just started feeding their young

Mum & Dad are kept busy with the various mouths to feed

Waiting for more insects while catching the afternoon sun

This one seems to get all the attention . . . and the food!

We managed to avoid the worst of the downpours and floods while we were away in sunny Portugal but we came back to a garden that resembled a jungle! The combination of wet and warm weather had accelerated the growth of weeds as well a the plants though.

We were surprised and delighted by the appearance of about 20 swallows and laughed at the unsteadiness of the youngsters as the landed on the telephone lines. It was such a pleasure watching them but they were only here for two days and disappeared as suddenly as they had arrived.

Jay on the arch ready to grab some peanuts to feed its youngsters

The jays have also started bringing their brood to the garden, much to the annoyance of the magpies which also had youngsters to feed. The aerial battles and harsh cries made for interesting viewing.

Grab shot of a blackbird through the kitchen window

The male blackbird is quite happy to use the pond but the female is much more discreet and hides under the acer tree. We were amazed to see a her gather a huge beak-full of nesting material from dead leaves and grasses and fly off with it to a tall tree. I didn't think birds built nests so late in the season but perhaps she's making up for time lost due to bad weather. With her glossy brown feathers and the massive amount of dead grasses drooping from her beak she looked for all the world like a Mexican bandit with a moustache to be proud of.

We were surprised to see a lone duckling on Saturday evening. It had attached itself to some adult mallards but none of them seemed to want it and it looked more like the young of a tufted duck. Two massive crows swooped down to take it and it dived for cover but I don't suppose it lasted too long. Perhaps, if the blackbirds are nesting again, the ducks will have yet another attempt this year and we'll finally see some ducklings make it to adulthood?

One other surprise this week was the sight of a goldfinch in the garden. It spent time gathering insects and then came down to the pond for a drink. Typically, the camera wasn't to hand at the time so I'm hoping it will return.

More ducklings disappear

What a terrible year it's been for ducklings on this stretch of the river. The mother managed to keep three ducklings alive for a week and we were just beginning to hope that they might survive.

Two days ago she turned up with two ducklings and seemed distressed and kept calling out as if she expected the other one to suddenly appear.

Yesterday only one duckling remained and today there are none

It isn't just the ducks that are having a disastrous breeding season. The coots have had yet another nest destroyed and today, with the river in spate, we watched a tiny young coot get washed downstream and away from its parents. They are now trying to build a new nest on the same plank they've used before. Their two previous nests, complete with eggs, were destroyed by the wash from speeding boats and this one is definitely destined for failure.

Bidou continues to visit us daily but she seems so lonely without a mate. The mute swans chase her when they see her and to hear her mournful call is quite upsetting. You can listen to some of her more subdued calls, with a loud one to finish during a preening session. It's not her full repertoire. She sometimes makes an amazingly deep booming sound before the high notes!

A lovely red passion flower in a garden nearby

During recent torrential rain some of the garden birds took refuge in the bird table and we watched a duck in the garden make a dash for shelter under the Acer tree when the heavens opened!

Young greenfinches arrived this week and make such a fuss for their parents to feed them. They're very attractive and I'm hoping to get some images of them. Meanwhile, a baby woodpecker appeared yesterday and fought with a parakeet for its place on the peanuts. It was amazing to watch their spat and the woodpecker seemed to be winning but eventually was driven off by the parakeet.

Rain stopped play (and photographic opportunities) last week

Ducklings drawn to decoy

I wonder why this decoy duck is so popular? Previous ducklings have taken a liking to it and these two have had great fun climbing on and off it. Over the last seven days we've watched these two grow and were just beginning to feel optimistic about their survival until one went missing yesterday. So far we've only seen four Taggs Island ducklings survive this season! In fact, most of the water birds have had a bad breeding season. No baby coots have survived on the Molesey side of the river so far, the cygnets are down from five to two, the great crested grebe has only one youngster remaining and there's only one baby moorhen. Most of the deaths are through predation but the wash from boats has wiped out three coots' nests and all the eggs. Once again the Canada geese have proved themselves to be the best survivors!

Bidou taking time out to preen her feathers

Bidou is still with us and is a popular attraction on this stretch of the river. Lovely though she is some of us think that she must be lonely without a mate. She has such a haunting and pathetic call at times, especially when she is being chased by the mute swans with their cygnets. Yesterday, the dominant male mute swan caught Bidou unawares as she grazed for weed with her head underwater. She managed to escape but lost several tail feathers during the encounter.

More colourful than the flowers

A male mandarin duck shows off his magnificent plumage in one of my plant pots. He has taken to grubbing around under the flowers for tasty bugs and regularly vandalizes the plants, tearing off flowers and stems from the main plants with his sharp beak!

I'm a bird too!

This male mandarin duck and his partner have developed a taste for peanuts and are regular visitors to the bird table. The female prefers to feed from the lower tray and sometimes her balancing act makes us laugh out loud.

The parakeets have discovered the fig tree

Last year I had loads of figs and only had to contend with the starlings for the ripe ones but this year the parakeets have come mob handed and are already attacking the unripe fruits.

A beautiful iris to grace my new pond

I bought this iris at the Hampton Court Flower Show two years ago and love its delicate colours and texture. This year I bought a water lily and I'm hoping for some lovely deep pink flowers later in the season.

I wonder who ruffled his feathers?

This blackbird was busy collecting worms and grubs for its young and appeared to be fit enough but his plumage leaves something to be desired!

Some old photographs and footage of mink attacking cygnet

I've been away for a few days and therefore have no up to date news and photographs but here are some older images and some unusual footage of a mink biting a cygnet.

Red deer having a mad moment

I was watching some deer towards the end of the day last winter and after they had crossed a stream in the park they started to get frisky and playful. One of them began bucking and leaping around and another covered its antlers and head with dead bracken, They reminded me of cats when they have mad moments and chase their tails or climb furniture.

This heron caught my attention as it appeared to be taking a bow

Mute swans fighting over territorial rights

These two swans battled for supremacy for at least 10 minutes until one of them was vanquished. The victor tried to drown its opponent but eventually contented itself with following the exhausted opponent onto the river bank and standing on top of him. We thought the other swan must be dead but it remained supine for at least five minutes after the other swan had swam off with its mate and then slowly struggled further up the bank and started to preen its damaged feathers.

An early morning rower

One of the joys of living here is sitting in the comfort of my own home while being able to watch river life from our lounge and dining areas. This is a view downstream through our patio windows.

This is the rare footage of an American mink attacking a cygnet outside our house. This particular mink stayed in the area for over a year and became very used to us. They are incredibly bold creatures. He killed many waterfowl during the time he was here but I was able to save some ducks. If I heard him attacking a duck (he used to drag them underwater outside our door) I would grab the duck by its feet and start to pull it back up and the mink would immediately let go. He would then look at me reproachfully and I suppose, in reality, I was saving one duck but causing another to die a little later on.

The BBC Natural History Unit saw this clip and thought it was a set up but it was one of the many attacks we saw this, and subsequent minks make on the local wildfowl and fish!

Images from home and upstream at Hurst Park

One of the few male mandarin ducks in full plumage

Most of the male Mandarin ducks are now looking very sorry for themselves. Their former glory has all but deserted them and some look as if they have the avian equivalent of chicken pox, with speckled faces where previously there were fine chestnut whiskers and a magnificent crest.

This greater spotted wookpecker has its favourite feeders and always gives a short sharp warning call just before it swoops down into the garden

A male tufted duck

Most of the tufted ducks are now quite used to us and come to feed by our front door. One or two of them have developed the habit of flying towards me and then swerving away when I throw out a scoop of wheat or seed. There was a time when they wouldn't come near the house but I've even had a couple of them fly onto the deck, which is most unusual.

Three orphan ducklings snuggle up together on Duck Ait

These three have either been abandoned or their mother is dead. We see them most evenings when we pass Duck Ait on our boat. I'm glad to see that they seem to be surviving on their own.

A kid having fun swinging from one of the trees at Hurst Park

When we were out the other evening we watched a group of youngsters having a wonderful time using a trapeze on ropes to swing from a tree into the shallow water. How nice to see kids having fun without some politically correct individual dampening their enthusiasm!

A jay with peanuts on its mind

Just the one?

This jay is almost fearless. It must be feeding youngsters because it sometimes crams as many as nine or ten peanuts into its beak/throat. The other day we were watching one of a pair of jays grab at least seven peanuts from the bird table. As it flew off it was mugged by two magpies and dropped the nuts on my therapy room roof. It tried desperately to fend off the magpies but when a third magpie joined the fray it was forced to leave the remaining peanuts to the feathered thieves!

Baby Woodpecker sees off parakeet

The first young greater spotted woodpecker in the garden this year

This youngster seemed a bit confused at first and not at all nervous of me. Its flight was somewhat erratic but once it found the peanuts it gained confidence. Its parents were still busy carrying peanuts off to the branch of a tall tree so perhaps they're feeding another youngster.

An unlikely pair of adversaries

I was amazed to see this youngster outface the parakeet. The parakeet kept threatening the young woodpecker, which in turn, would flap its wings and lunge back. To my surprise, the woodpecker was the victor.

This parakeet knows no fear

We can almost touch this particular individual, it seems quite unperturbed by our presence. So much so, in fact, that it gives me a fright quite regularly, by taking flight just as I walk by. I'm so used to seeing these birds in the garden that I hardly notice them.

Just as the sun was going behind a cloud the grebes performed a brief courtship ritual

While we were sitting on the outside deck having dinner a pair of crested grebes floated by and did a brief courtship dance right in front of us. Unfortunately, the sun went behind a cloud almost immediately and the light was too low to take more pictures. It's wonderful to watch grebes courting. They extend their crests and make flicking movements with their heads.

Today I had the joy of seeing my first baby grebe of the season, tucked behind the wings of its mother while the adult male presented it with the tiniest of fish.

Crested grebe in summer plumage

Male mandarin duck going into winter plumage (eclipse)

When in breeding plumage the vibrant colours of the male mandarin duck are a work of art. As they go into eclipse (moult) they gradually lose their finery and eventually look like their female counterparts. This one still has ginger whiskers . . . just!

Bidou takes time to relax after a snack

They cygnets tuck into wheat

The mute swans bring their cygnets round at least twice a day and spend some twenty minutes enjoying the wheat and churning up the water to release nutrients for them all. They also graze for weed and gravel, holding their necks under water for a surprisingly long time. Since lead fishing weights were banned we've seen fewer deaths from lead poisoning but their are still some old submerged weights and, occasionally, an unlucky swan swallows one and dies a slow and painful death.