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.

Canidae (1): Ice Victim

P.S. The fox when we first saw him - added in response to Jeremy's comment. Thanks, Jeremy!

 * * *

We were out and about this last weekend. There was still a fair amount of ice around.

Suddenly we spotted a fox on the lake in broad daylight at about 2.15pm.

It had been trying to reach some Coots across the ice when it fell in.

It was quite a way away from us . . .

. . . but with the help of my zoom lens, I just managed to catch it on camera. What a fine white tip to its muzzle.

I love a happy ending, but I guess there are times when nature has to take its course. The only consolation is that at least the Coot colony survived intact on this occasion.

• The Red Fox on National Geographic