A youngster all alone apart from his two siblings swimming alongside at Hauxley. Fast food for the gulls and where is Dad?
Oh...just a few hundred meters away and not a care in the world. I've been reading an interesting article in July issue of Bird Watching magazine regarding Shelduck who appear to be not the best of parents. They produce copious young but as most birders will know, most fall foul to predation. Two reasons.........one, that pairs remain antagonostic throughout breeding often to the detriment of the young.
These two without young were displaying to a pair with four young for no apparent reason other than jealousy. The other pair defended their brood but put them at risk during the process. However pairs steeling young may be quite acceptable in Shelduck society.
Most Shelduck in the North west of Europe decant to an area in Germany during July to October to fraternise and moult. This is Grossen Knechtsand between the Weser and Elbe on the northern coast. Unfortunately many are too keen to get there so creching of the young often takes place allowing some adults to absolve their responsibilities to reach their favourite place early. They return in the new year and Budle Bay has numbers in excess of 1000 in January as they disperse. The youngsters meanwhile have either grown to adult or succumbed to lifes pressures. It's a hard life being a young duck.
Following our visit to see the Spoonbill, we had a return visit the day you saw the Cuckoo. We visited all but one hide and despite having seen a Shelduck earlier with six chicks on the first visit the highest count this time was four.
ReplyDeleteOne adult seen at a 'flash' just west of Cresswell today escorting eight well grown young single file over a field.
ReplyDelete