Weekend Surprises

This weekend was full of surprise encounters. First a little story. In 1951 the Hollywood movie “African Queen”, with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, was partly shot at Isleworth Studios in Middlesex. The story goes that a pair of Rose-ringed Parakeets (Psittacula Krameri) escaped and settled in the surrounding neighbourhood. Whether this is true or not I don’t know, but nowadays there are around 50,000 of these birds flying around in London.

This afternoon I saw about three in a tree in my garden, and they stayed long enough for a decent shot.

They normally fly in groups of at least 5 and make quite some noise in the air.

But it is always a funny sight to see these cute birds in your garden. You feel in a different world, just as Humphrey (who won an Oscar for Best Actor for his role) and Katherine.

 

Last week I saw a handful of Little Egrets (Egretta Garzetta) in a tree near Ruislip Lido. In the past I had seen just one every now and then in that area, but I was presently surprised to see so many together. Of course I had to revisit the actual site and so I did yesterday. The surprise was even bigger, since about a dozen were flying up and down the trees.

Unfortunately, you can not approach them totally silent and they flew away the moment I came too close. But waiting a while (as quiet as possible) helped a little in making these shots.

I was even able to take a picture of two of them in flight as is shown below. I will definitely return to this “scene of crime”.

 

Talking of birds in flight: I also took some shots at the Ruislip Lido of three Canada Geese (Branta Canadensis) and a Muted Swan (Cygnus Olor) in full flight. It is always a thrill to see these shots being sharp enough to share (in stead of deleting them straight away). The picture at the beginning of this blog showed the occasion for the flight: there was some food on offer further down the Lido…and they all had to tuck in.

I will finish this blog with a picture of a Eurasian Jay (Garrulus Glandarius) that seemed to be as surprised as I was this weekend of the variation of birdlife, just around the corner.

Shovelling along

Today I saw quite some Northern Shovelers (Anas Clypeata) in London Wetland Centre. And I realised that I never wrote a blog about this typical duck. It’s name is obviously derived from the unique (and not so pretty) bill, with which they can do all kind of useful things. especially when it comes down to getting food.

They feed by dabbling for plant food, often by swinging its bill from side to side and using the bill to strain food from the water. They use their highly specialized bill (from which their name is derived) to forage for aquatic invertebrates – a carnivorous diet.

Their wide-flat bill is equipped with well-developed lamellae – small, comb-like structures on the edge of the bill that act like sieves, allowing the birds to skim crustaceans and plankton from the water's surface (source: Wikipedia).

 

But I have seen that their bill can also be used for other activities, such as scratching, fighting etc.

The colours of the male (outside the eclipse period) are very distinctive and quite remarkable. A white base chest with a brown underbelly. Very bright dark-green head and beautiful black and white feathers on the back. The colours do compensate the ugly broad bill.

The female Shoveler has typical female duck colours, but with the different bill. They must eat as well after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will finish with a picture where both male and female Shovelers can be seen. It was taken in London Wetland Centre.

Another wonderful duck, that’s for sure!

 

 

Goose Bumps

With the autumn definitely started, there will be thousands and thousands of geese coming to this side of Europe. But there are also geese who are permanent residents of the UK, such as the Canada Geese (Branta Candensis) as shown in the banner who are quite frankly turning into almost a pest in this part of Europe.

Nevertheless, this blog is all about geese and the beautiful variety there is amongst them.

The first type to show is the White-fronted Goose (Anser Albifrons). They are very recognizable with their white band around the orange bill. They breed in Russia or Greenland, but fly to our shores in the Autumn. The picture on the left was taken in Slimbridge Wetland Centre where they are living all year round. But I still need to see the White-fronted Geese in the wild, so this picture has to do for the moment.

They do have a little cousin, the Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser Erythropus) that is smaller in size and has a more pink coloured bill. They rarely come to the UK for the winter, although with a reintroduction program in Sweden, this may change.

On this picture you can also see the Red-breasted Goose (Branta Ruficollis). The Red-breasted Goose is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. They are normally staying near the Black Sea during the winter and breed in North Russia (Siberia).

Sometimes you see them in north-west Europe, where they will stay in small groups during the winter, in amongst other geese. Their colours however are very distinguishable. This picture (as well as the one above) was taken at Arundel Wetland Centre.

But if you don’t like the coloured geese, you can always refer back to the domestically bread Embden Goose (Anser Anser Domesticus). Men have created this breed and you can find them in parks, at farms and basically everywhere throughout the year, since they do not migrate.

There are many more types of goose that I could show you. But let’s finish with the Greylag Goose (Anser Anser). It is in fact the ancestor of the domesticated Embden Goose and is also non migratory. I give you: the original goose.