Ablution, to come clean with yourself

Every morning, we start the day by taking a shower, brushing our teeth and if necessary shaving or combing our hair. We normally have two hands with normally five fingers each, so there is not an awful lot of difficulty in that activity.
If you are a male Pochard however, you have to find other ways to do the business. Balancing on a piece of wood with only your bill to make some effort is not for the faint-hearted.
Standing save ashore, when you don’t have to do the balancing act as this Tufted Duck is showing looks already much easier. But still the restriction of only a bill to take care of things is rather limiting.

 

There is always a graceful exception to the rule: this Stork is able to balance on just one leg and still groom itself perfectly.

In this blog I will show various methods of ablution of various animals with only one purpose: to do your best to look the part.

I will show you a Black-footed Penguin, a bathing Red-crested Pochard, a Meerkat with a lot of sand to clear out of it’s fur and two Black-capped Squirrel Monkeys helping each other. Especially the mammals, like myself, have a huge advantage with their arms and claws.

No matter what method they use, cleverly or just out of necessity, I am very pleased that all animals (except perhaps for pigs) take some time to clean, groom and polish them for my pictures. Which gives me the opportunity to show off on their behalf.

 

Wildfowl & Wetland Trust

Today I renewed my membership of the Wildfowl & Wetland Trust (WWT). This organisation was founded in the UK in 1946 by the late Sir Peter Scott and is one of the world’s largest and most respected wetland conservation organisations working globally to safeguard and improve wetlands for wildlife and people.

When Sir Peter Scott founded the WWT, his ideas were unique. He was the first to recognise the wisdom of the combined approach of taking action to save wetlands and their wildlife, while encouraging the public to care about the natural world. He also pioneered the notion that conservation education should be uplifting and fun for people of all ages - that wetlands are places to enjoy as well as to respect. Sir Peter's principles remain at the core of WWT's work and are central to our future plans. The WWT complements wetland conservation work carried out worldwide with a network of UK visitor centres comprising 2,600 hectares of globally important wetland habitat. (Source: WWT website)

Peacock Tower at WWT London. MAE © 2011

So far, I have visited WWT London many times but WWT Arundel only once. And every time it is a mere pleasure to perambulate from bird hide to bird hide, of course with the camera close by, and enjoy the birdlife through all the seasons. It was in WWT London that I saw the Common Teal for the first time. During a little boat trip in WWT Arundel you can see the delicate but beautiful Water Voles peeping their heads outside the reeds, to see who is on board.

The best example of the conservation work that the WWT does must be the saving of the Madagascar pochard. Until recently, the Madagascar Pochard was believed extinct, the last sighting having been in 1991. In November 2006, however, staff from the Peregrine Fund (TPF), rediscovered the species on a small lake ‘the red lake’ near Bemanevika, 300 km north of the last known site; 20 mature birds and possibly nine ducklings were reported at the end of 2006.
Despite numerous logistical difficulties this proved successful, and at the end of 2009 three clutches had been successfully hatched with over 20 ducklings reared and held in temporary accommodation in advance of the construction of a conservation breeding centre. Project staff maintain a constant presence at the red lake to ensure protection of the birds and the lakes and surrounding forest have been submitted for designation as a protected area (Source: WWT website).

As a tribute to this wonderful organisation, I have posted some of my pictures, taken in one of the two aforementioned visitor centres. Next stop, as far as I am concerned: WWT Slimbridge, the first centre that Sir Peter Scott opened.

Red-breasted Geese at WWT Arundel. MAE © 2012

Many Cormorants, Grey Herons and and various gulls at WWT London. MAE © 2013

Eider ducks in their save enclosure at WWT London. MAE © 2013

One of the islands at WWT London in full bloom. MAE © 2011

Great Crested Grebe

MAE © 2011

The Great Crested Grebes are definitely back in the waters and are preparing for their mating rituel. I have yet to see this beautiful ballet, but the footage on the internet promises something spectacular. In Dutch this bird is known as a Fuut; the Latin name is: Podiceps Cristatus.

As I mentioned earlier, the Great Crested Grebe has an elaborate mating display. Like all grebes, it nests on the water's edge, since its legs are set relatively far back and it is thus unable to walk very well. Usually two eggs are laid, and the fluffy, striped young grebe are often carried on the adult's back. In a clutch of two or more hatchlings, male and female grebes will each identify their 'favourites', which they alone will care for and teach

Unusually, young grebes are capable of swimming and diving almost at hatching. The adults teach these skills to their young by carrying them on their back and diving, leaving the chicks to float on the surface; they then re-emerge a few feet away so that the chicks may swim back onto them (source: WikiPedia)

 MAE © 2013

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, or RSBP for short, was formed to counter the barbarous trade in plumes for women's hats, a fashion responsible for the destruction of many thousands of egrets, birds of paradise and other species whose plumes had become fashionable in the late Victorian era

There had already been concern earlier in the century about the wholesale destruction of such native birds as great crested grebes and kittiwakes for their plumage, leading to such early legislation as the Sea Birds Preservation Act of 1869 and the Wild Birds Protection Act of 1880, but the trigger which led to the foundation of the Society for the Protection of Birds in 1889 was the continued wearing of ever more exotic plumes. Indeed the young Society was so successful that it was granted its Royal Charter in 1904, just 15 years after being founded  (source: RSPB Website).

To celebrate the beauty of this very strange bird, I will finish with three more pictures I took in the last couple of years.

MAE © 2013

MAE © 2011

MAE © 2012