Monday 11 March 2013

Beautiful Birds: A Cold Afternoon at Needham Market

A tense moment: Canada Goose meets Mute Swan
A Black-headed Gull surveys the scene.

I'm guessing the huge drake (back right) is a Mallard hybrid

You can read my previous post about hybridisation here.

Time for a spot of ...

... spring-cleaning, aka preening.

The gulls thought so, too.

The one on the left is a juvenile, with paler head, legs and beak.

A final fluff-up ...


... before joining the Mute Swan and other gulls on the water.


The Moorhen preferred to scrabble for food on the bank.
We saw a few distant Fieldfare on the way home.

3 comments:

Em Parkinson said...

Lovely pictures Caroline. I really like the fluffing up one!

Mary said...

If you don't know their personalities, that tense moment looks "friendly" in the photo! They look like they are having a nice discussion of the weather and water temperature :-) Love the gull shots and the odd Mallard. Lots of good stuff.

Crafty Green Poet said...

lovely photos Caroline! The top one would be ideal for a caption contest! I also particularly like the one of the swan swimming in one direction and the gulls swimming in the other!