New paintings and regular art updates.
I think this was a coot chick (could be moorhen chick) we saw yesterday. I goy a reasonable photo of it although it’s beak seems to disappear into the stony soil on the side of the lake. It’s mum was just out of shot swimming on the lake. I guess they have to be as independent as possible as quickly as they can so that they can go out into the world. But this is a little fuzz ball and it’s still without feathers. I hope it survives to full fledge.
Can you see the bird on the nest? I think it might have been a coot or a moorhen, but it was hidden under the overhanging branches of an alder tree, floating on the small lake at Westport. We also saw two Swans with eight cygnets swimming behind them. It’s that time of year in the Northern Hemisphere when nature renews itself. You see ducks with their ducklings too. I hope we get hedgehogs in our garden again too. Their babies are called hoglet’s.
At least I think it’s a Coot dabbling away at the water. I always get Coots and Moorhens mixed up. One sort has a white patch on its head, the other a red patch. They look very similar except that Moorhens are slightly smaller? The weird thing about the chicks is that the have a slightly red patch of feathers above their beaks. The parent (not sure if it’s male of female) certainly seems to be keeping an eye on the chick.
Photo taken at Westport lake a couple of weeks ago during a walk round the nature reserve.
Mallaband-Brown