Yay! Friday, Mar 14 2008

I’ve realised that was the fiftieth post. Fifty days – I didn’t realise I could keep this up for so long. O.O Of course, posting one a day will inevitably run out, as it is difficult to maintain in terms of photographs and your interest (which I may have lost god knows how long ago), but lets see how long I can keep it up, huh?

Onwards and upwards!

More moorhens; this is a pair in the park near the market. One of several pairs in the park, at that. But I went in on a morning and figured that, because it was darn bright for a february morning and I had my camera on me, why not?

Behind them is the river… *thinks* Chelmer. The river Chelmer. The Can is on the other side of town, and runs through the Bunny Walks. In front is a random piece of dried grass. Oh, and the green stuff is normal grass. ;)

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“I’m coming, dear!” Sunday, Mar 2 2008

This is a moorhen. They’re literally everwhere around here – just walking down the park at the right time of day, you can spot at least six wandering around near the river. They’re small – about half the length of the mallards – but extremely loud. If there is only one moorhen in an area, their very distinctive chirp will have you looking around for a phantom bird.

That’s because they’re very good at hiding. Significantly shier than mallards, pigeons, starlings, etc, they’re usually tucked in amongst the reeds or whatever plants are on the other side of the river to you. You have to wait, watch, and look very carefully until you see that blob of black-with-a-little-white in the shadows moves, and then you can see the dratted bird clearly.

Although this does depend upon their exposure. The ones on the Can, near the Odeon, tend to be daring for moorhens.

The RSPB website profile – http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/m/moorhen/index.asp

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