Moorhens

After a slow start to the breeding season there are at least five moorhen chicks being raised on the moat. All five were on the front lawn today under the care of two adults and a juvenile. At one point when there was one adult and three chicks two magpies landed presumably to snatch a chick or two. The adult stood on no ceremony but charged, beak outstretched, at the nearest magpie, who, despite his size advantage cleared out pretty quickly. I went out and ensured both magpies were gone. The picture below is of three of the chicks waiting on a rush.

Even more ducklings...

We are now up to just over 40 ducklings with a further 12 born a few days ago. We shall see if these stay around or not - so far we have not this year had new ducklings around for more than a few days after hatching. However water moat levels are almost back to normal after the exceptional rain we have had in the last couple of months so maybe that will help.

More ducklings

A third set of ducklings for this year have been born in the last couple of days. Neither of the first two broods stayed around but with more water in the moat I'm hoping these will do. Thirteen this time means about 30 for the year so far - still well short of the 50+ recorded a few years ago.

First ducklings of 2012

Just a couple of days after the first moorhen chicks were hatched we had our first ducklings. I was looking for the moorhen chicks when an oddly coloured one appeared and it took me a few seconds to realise it was in fact a single duckling with no sign of adults or other chicks. A couple of hours later I spotted the whole brood who had now hatched although I didn't get a precise count. There were certainly at least half a dozen. Later however the crows and some sparrowhawks seemed to be taking a lot of interest and it's possible she lost a few. Whatever the reason she seems to have decamped with them to somewhere else as I haven't seen them around in the last day or so. I am sure there will be further broods to come. The good news is we have had some proper rain today at last. Let's hope this weather continues for a while until the moat is back to its proper water levels.

First Moorhen Chicks of 2012

After a rough year for the moorhens including the current lack of water depth it is good to see the first chicks of the year. There are definitely four and maybe five although I am not 100% sure whether they are all from the same brood. The feeding and care of young is complex and often only part of the brood is taken out by an adult.

Anyway here is a picture of three of the 2012 chicks under the care of an adult.

Ladybirds

It's been a big year for ladybirds so far; to be specific 7-spot ladybirds. They are much more plentiful than I have seen them here before. I don't know whether it is the early spring weather in February and March or the drought we have had here for the last eighteen months or what, but everywhere you can see lots of 7-spots.

Frogs are back

It's spawning time again. Due to the severe drought we have had here for the last year most of the usual spawning places are dry. The frogs are spawning in the main part of the moat where I guess the spawn is going to be a lot more available to be eaten. No doubt some will survive and keep the population going.