ED Nature Watch

[diable rouge]

Sue Wrote:

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> Hope the heron hasn't had the rest (haven't seen

> any herons lately).

Haven't seen the swan either recently...

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

According to "Country Life" article*, coots aren't all fluffy and sweet:

"... where duck nest proliferate ... will take eggs opportunistically ... and will drown duckling by towing them down by the legs."

"Where food is plentiful, the chicks are fed for up to two months and may stay on parental territory for 14 weeks. However, in leaner locations, they are discouraged after the first few days and only the strongest and most persistent two or three per brood survive."

* "As bald as a coot", Country Life 13.02.19

[Sue]

:(

[tarafitness]

Sue Wrote:

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> I passed by there yesterday and only saw one

> sign?

There are about 3 :)

> I think if I had seen anybody feeding ducks bread

> next to it I might have had a polite word with

> them :)

The family who were there when we arrived, cleared off as soon as we pulled out the freezer bags of duck food. The other chap was wandering around with a plastic bag full of bread, throwing it mainly to the pigeons, then lobbing some into the pond - while stood next to the sign.

You're braver than I am. I just did the passive aggressive British thing of loudly agreeing with my 5 year old when he said that people shouldn't be feeding the ducks bread.

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I think there may be 2 families of coots? I saw parents with 2, and then there's a nest full of the fluffy blighters at the end near the small playground.

[tiddles]

Oh good i was worried about those baby coots - mr heron is very clearly abour

We saw one set of parents with 5 and another set with just 1...

Just waiting for the ducklings ....

[dougie22]

tiddles Wrote:

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> Oh good i was worried about those baby coots - mr

> heron is very clearly abour

> We saw one set of parents with 5 and another set

> with just 1...

>

> Just waiting for the ducklings ....

Five fluffy yellow Canada goslings in the pond this morning.......

[BrandNewGuy]

Went on a dawn chorus walk around Green Dale fields yesterday morning and heard and/or saw 27 different bird species: robin, blackbird, wren, dunnock, house sparrow, chiffchaff, blackcap, goldfinch, greenfinch, bullfinch, blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, song thrush, magpie, carrion crow, jackdaw, black-headed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, cormorant, mallard, ring-necked parakeet, greater spotted woodpecker, starling, woodpigeon and goldcrest. Worth getting up before 4am :)

[Fractoggen]

it is good discussion for me!

[jimmah]

There were two healthy looking Jays in my garden this morning.

[amlh]

4 goslings on my last visit and a whole new clutch of tiny coots (cootlings?).

Also - saw a turtle for the first time in the other pond near the bamboo house/wooden shelter thing. First time ever.

[amlh]

Also watched a mallard (male) attempt to drown a cootling. The coot parents were hooting in a panic as the mallard dragged the cootling underwater and kept it there. It was horrible to see. Clearly a copy/mallard war going on.

[Sue]

amlh Wrote:

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> Also - saw a turtle for the first time in the

> other pond near the bamboo house/wooden shelter

> thing. First time ever.

Unfortunately, somebody may have tired of it as a pet (possibly when it grew larger) and dumped it there :(

[sunbob]

amlh Wrote:

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> Also - saw a turtle for the first time in the

> other pond near the bamboo house/wooden shelter

> thing. First time ever.

I'm sure I've seen turtles there every year for a long time. Will ask children to remind me when they get home.

[Sue]

Actually come to think of it, I have a vague memory of seeing a turtle there, out of the water.

ETA: But I don't think there is any way it (or possibly they) could have got there unless at some point somebody actually put them there. Unless they had made a bid for freedom from somebody's house or garden :)

[Asset]

they may have originally started out as pets but I'm sure they're happier living in the wild. There are terrapins/turtles in the pond on Dulwich Common too, been there for years. Loads of turtles live in the lake in Central Park NYC

[Sue]

There are also several in the village pond at Ditchling, where I once lived. We thought there was just one, until one day we saw three at once sunbathing on a rock.

I also found one wandering down the path at the horticulture department in Stanmer Park, where I worked at the time :) I put it in one of our ponds :)

[BrandNewGuy]

Keep an eye and an ear out for the return of the swifts ? now's usually about the time. Here's what I've recorded as the first day they've been seen or heard in ED in previous years:

2011 ? May 9

2012 ? May 1

2013 ? May 17

2014 ? May 8

2015 ? May 9

2016 ? May 4

2017 - May 6

2018 ? May 7

[Sue]

Hope they haven't been struck down by the hailstones :(

ETA: As this has gone onto a new page, I had better make it clear that I am referring to the swifts in brandnewguy's previous post :))

[BrandNewGuy]

Probably the chillier and wetter weather has kept them further south for now. The weekend's looking warmer, so that's a good time, as they need lots of flying insects once they finish their journey to build themselves up for the breeding season.

[sjsl]

Just seen (heard them first) a couple of swifts over North Dulwich near the railway... hope more will follow, but that has made my day, always delightful to welcome them back.

[Sue]

Hooray!

[BrandNewGuy]

Nice! I think I heard one at about 6.00 this evening ? Barry Rd near Peckham Rye, so it sounds like they're back. If only for two months or so. It's funny that we think of them as 'our' birds that spend the winter in Africa, when in reality it makes more sense to see them as African birds that just breed here.

[RichH]

I'm watching loads of them whirling about over Honor Oak right now :)

[treehugger]

My husband saw an owl in Peckham Rye Park earlier this week.

[BrandNewGuy]

That's possibly one of the little owls that live at the top end of Peckham Rye Park. You can sometimes hear their strange 'woop, woop' call at dusk at this time of year.