JUNE 2008 - Grebe & Coot chicks.

When the weather is decidedly wet, the snails come out. Whilst I know that a lot of people dislike these creatures because of the harm they can do in the garden, I think they are fascinating! If you spend time watching them, they can move fairly long distances (for a snail) during the course of a couple of hours or so. This one was in the garden and just one photo of several is shown here.

Over at Lakeside, the Great Crested Grebe pair hatched two chicks. Unfortunately one was larger than the other and from my observations over a couple of days, it looks like the parent disowned the smaller chick as can be seen by my short video. In any case, the smaller chick was not with its parent after this, though I did see it on its own a day later. After that... nothing. So I suspect that it perished from hunger or was predated.



On a brighter note, the Coot nest had hatched 3 chicks. The family consists of 3 adults; a mating pair and possibly an immature related female. They were amusing to watch but tended to be rough with the chicks at times.



There was also a Mute Swan with a family of 4 chicks at Lakeside. The parent, as you would expect was very protective towards the chicks and would make her presence felt if Canada Geese, Mallards or anything else came too close to the chicks. I even saw a large fish stalk the chicks. The adult immediately rushed to the scene and submerged her long neck under the water to warn off the fish.