Birds

12/6/2018


Ducks, coots, geese, swans, seagulls, sharing our watery travels, lots of opportunities to observe them.

Comparisons may be odious, but ducks compared to swans and geese, rate pretty low in the parenting stakes.  Most ducklings are accompanied by only mum,  not surprisingly, one harried duck, with ducklings scattering  everywhere.
We exploited this scattered  family pattern when we inserted Lucky Duck into such a group. We'd found the lone duckling, shivering against our hull,  no parent, siblings anywhere. JJ fished him out, tucked him into a jacket for warmth, tried to feed him. He warmed up, but wouldn't eat, putting an end to JJ's  vision of a duck 2nd mate. So some hours later, we gently launched him into a scattered flock, and away he went,  hopefully a lucky duck.

Geese and swans  believe in a 2 parent approach, with offspring exploring the water in single file, adults at front and rear of the line.

Coots seem to have few babies, and are seldom seen en famille, except near the bank, scuttling under the overhanging branches.

Seagulls we haven't seen with their young, and as they make enough noise and chaos as adults, the absence of visible, squawking young is probably good for the peace and quiet of the canals.


In Gloucester docks the gulls gathered in the centre,  splashing, drenching their feathers in the clean un salty water of the Severn, flying up, shaking excess water as they fly, then circling to do it all again. Fascinating.

Nesting birds adapt to the canal environment's opportunities-  a Canada goose laid its eggs on the stern of an old boat, a duck nested in a tyre fender, coots on slender branches dipping into the stream, swans believe in a throne of straw, reeds.

And then there's the heron, kingfisher......



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