Category Archives: wildlife

Swift Fledgling

When the weather has been really hot at home, we have had windows open all over the house. I was out of the office having lunch with Nancy in the back of the house and I could hear a bird tweeting that sounded very close but didn’t really pay much attention to it. However, when I went back into my office after lunch, I saw a bird sitting on the window frame. At first, I stopped dead and called Nancy to have a look before it flew off if we startled it.

This was not a problem. The bird seemed totally uninterested in my presence. I am not a specialist on birds, but I think it was a swift and that it was recently fledged. Every once in a while, it would start tweeting which may well have been because the parents were nearby. Then it would go very quiet again. I took some photos and footage of it before returning to work. I figured it would fly off in due course.

This wasn’t the case. By the end of the workday, it was still sitting there. I did wonder at this point whether the open window meant parents couldn’t see where it was. Maybe staying there wasn’t going to be good for it and I would need to close the window at night. I decided to try moving it across the road to a fence post, so it was elevated but also visible. I got some gardening gloves to pick it up. At first, it seemed uninterested in moving but then suddenly it took off and flew across the road, over the fence and into the fields. Later in the evening, our neighbours saw it sitting on the spoke of the wheel of their vehicle. I guess it liked the warmth. However, we didn’t see it again. No idea whether it did okay or not.

Can This Dog Get the Ball?

As we crossed a bridge in Bushy Park that spanned a river, we saw a dog that was intently trying to recover its ball. The ball had gone into the river, and the dog wanted it back. It wasn’t planning on swimming for it though. Instead, it was trying to reach it from the bank. It wasn’t having any success, but this did not seem to be stopping it from trying. I have no idea how patient a dog can be and what its limits of frustration might be, but it didn’t have any success while we were there.

Pelicans Overhead

Scooting through some old images, I came across a shoot from a day at San Francisco International Airport. The shoreline at Millbrae provides a great view of operations but it also had quite a variety of wildlife that made the shoreline and the mudflats that it included home. We used to see a load of pelicans to although, for some reason, my later visits didn’t seem to include them. They would glide gracefully just above the water minimising their drag. However, on this occasion, they were a bit higher than usual. I imagine that the airport operations team at SFO are not keen on flocks of birds the size of pelicans in close proximity to airliners. Not sure whether this group had been cleared through the zone or not.

Very Large Moth Comes to Visit

One afternoon I headed out to the garage to sort something out on my bike. As I went to open the garage door, I saw something on the brick next to the door. It was one of the larger moths that I have come across in my life – apparently an eyed hawk-moth. It was huge compared to what we normally see. I assumed it would rapidly be scared off but, no, not only did it not seem to care about me opening and closing the garage door, but it was still there a couple of hours later when I came out. The camouflage looks really good if you are in leaves or on a tree trunk, but I don’t think brink is the perfect background for this species.

Black-Headed Gull Eying a Snack

The morning after the birthday party that took us to Cowes, we went and got some bakery items for breakfast. (I won’t focus on the quality of the baking here, but they were a bit disappointing.) We took our purchases and walked along to Cowes Parade to sit and eat them while watching the world go by. A black-headed gull soon took an interest in us and came and perched close to us. It was lacking a foot, so its perching was slightly less straightforward. Gradually it would get braver and come closer to us. I decided it wanted to be on the blog so will oblige. (I don’t think it took any crumbs from our food so maybe it didn’t rate them either!)

More Duck Bums!

I posted a shot of a duck up-ending while feeding and it seemed to amuse a few of you. Not long after that, I was running through the catalogue and got another shot that had a lot more then one duck up-ending with a formation of them. There was not way that wasn’t going to find its way on here at some point and here it is.

Virginia Rail in the Mud

When I used to spend time at Juanita Bay Park, those who knew their birds properly used to be quite excited by the rails that they saw there. A Virginia rail was one of the ones that someone pointed out to me. I liked the way the face got coated in mud as it was probing the shoreline for food. At one point, one was walking around in the shade and then its head came out into the light that was coming through a small gap in the vegetation. I loved the look for that brief moment.

A Black Hoodie Has Become Someone’s Base

While walking on my regular route around the nature reserve, I saw a hoodie that someone had left on the fence. I imagined that there was a chance that they would come back this way and find it and was going to move on but then I saw a shape on the fabric which enticed me to look closer. This spider had taken up residence on the hoodie and seemed quite at home in the sun. I don’t know spider species so have no idea what this is, but it looked rather fascinating.

What is Going on With This Kite?

Windsor Great Park has a lot of red kites. As we walked along one path, it seemed like there were more of them than we could count. The breeze along the ridge made it easy for them as they swooped back and forth looking for food. Mum and Nancy pointed me at a tree along the path. On the branch, one of the kites had landed and was surveying the scene. Something about it seemed odd as I took the shot, but it was only when I got home and looked at the images that I realised that it seems to have a rather wonky beak. I’ve no idea whether this makes life tricky or not but seemed healthy enough.

Kestrel That Isn’t Shy

During a walk through Windsor Great Park, we were about to turn onto a new path when we noticed a few people stopped a short distance away. If there are a few people all doing nothing and looking in one direction, there is a good chance there is something interesting that they are looking at. Sure enough, there was a kestrel sitting on the fence. Whenever I see something like this, I figure there is a chance that it is going to get spooked and fly off so grab a quick shot before it is too late.

However, this bird didn’t seem in the least bit bothered. It was well aware of the small crowd that it had attracted but no one was getting close, so it seemed content to just sit there. I walked in a new direction to try and get a better angle on it – still convinced that it would scoot but no. It happily stayed there while I got a different look at it. Having achieved that, it was time to continue with our walk but, as I looked back, it was still sitting there. Maybe it had just eaten and was now digesting lunch?