Things remain pretty much the same at Cortonwood, with the best from this morning being : Shoveler 3, Pochard 1, Tufted Duck 37, Coot (colour-ringed bird) & Great Spotted Woodpecker 2. I`d better make the most of the birds on the lake, what with the temperature droping to -7 C on Wednesday night. Can`t see there being any open water on Thursday.
And the best of the birds from the garden during the afternoon, were : Stock Dove 1 (feeding), Goldfinch 8 (feeding). No pre-roost gathering of the latter and that was probably due to the Sparrowhawk that was perched in the tree where the Goldies usually congregate.
Stock Dove - When i photographed this or the other bird of the pair last week, i said i was pretty sure that they had got young in the nest (due to the bird`s full crop). Now i`m even more convinced, because if my eye`s aren`t decieving me, there are signs of a brood patch visible on this individual.
Goldfinch
I don't know what a brood patch is, Dean, please educate me? Darn good image though, the lighting is pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteThank you. The brood patch is an area of the belly where the feathers fall out when the birds are breeding. The blood vessels in this area are close to the skin, enabling the birds to incubate the eggs/keep the chicks warm.
ReplyDeleteHope that explains it for you.
Does that mean ive got a brood patch on my head Dean, as all my hair has fallen out :-) Hope its chicks are snuggled up to said patch if the temps drop to -7 !
ReplyDeleteWarren : ;-). I reckon they`ll be fine. They must have got young, cos there`s only one adult feeding at any one time. I`ll soon find out if i`m right, once the young have fledged & come in to feed with the parent birds.
ReplyDelete