Archives: September 2006
Fri Sep 29, 2006
Tufted duck....
I managed to get down the Slea between rain bursts :) and I saw the remaining Tufted Duck do a wing flex where they standup in the water and really flap their wings. On this occassion the wing flex was very weak, almost as though it caused a little pain. Unless this was a one off I dont think he/she could fly at all, I wonder if this is the reason that he is still around ??? I will keep my eye out hoping to see him/her try another wing flex so I can be more sure ?
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Thu Sep 28, 2006
This is 'batty'...
This is 'Batty'...
...on a tree near Cogglesford Mill, the first Bat I have seen close-up in the wild, probably a Pipistrelle but I am by no means certain.
I saw all 8 Dabchicks that are above the weir (2 parents, 3 little ones, 1 single, 2 new 'pair') and the remaining Tuffty :)
Terry
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Tue Sep 26, 2006
Interesting Moorhen behaviour...
I am not certain exactly what was going on but there was quite a lot of Moorhen fights near the LC bridge. I *think* 1 set of parents were telling their offspring that it was time to 'go', the youngsters were chased away but ofcourse into the next Moorhen families territory, so they then started on the youngsters which bought the 2 sets of parents together for more fighting ???
When I went over the New Street bridge there were NO Mallards in site either left or right, I have never seen this before and dont know why, I will see what happens tomorrow.
I didnt find the 'over the weir' Dabchick again so that is about 5 days of no sighting, I think he must have just gone further downstream as I see no reason to believe anything else. I saw all the others, our 2 parents, 3 youngsters, 1 single adult and the 'new' pair, so it looks at the moment that they are all staying for now. Also saw Tuffty :)
One from the archives...
Mrs Blackie with Cogglesford Mill in the background.
Terry
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Sun Sep 24, 2006
Just a quick note...
Just a quick note to say that I saw all 3 young Dabchicks today, at one time they were all with both parents but they were not getting fed. Earlier I had seen one youngster getting fed by one parent so they have not given up feeding the youngsters totally, but I think the youngsters are getting the message that most of it is now up to them. I didnt see the 'over the weir' young Dabchick so now its 2-3 days since I last saw him. I am not worried as he can obviously look after himself, but I would like to see him now and then just to make sure he is ok. I also saw one of the 2 new Dabchick pair but heard their 'funny laugh' greeting so the other one was around somewhere. Tuftty was also still 'at home' :)
Terry
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Sat Sep 23, 2006
I had a quick...
I had a quick walk along the Slea today, I saw 2 parent Dabchicks and 2 'little ones', 1 near Quackers and 1 just past new Street Bridge towards the Hub. I didnt see the 'over the weir' little Dabchick, I havnt seen him for 2.5 days and wonder if he has gone further downstream past the railway bridge, if so I may not see him again ???? The last remaining Tuffty was still around :)
Terry
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Thu Sep 21, 2006
I saw them today...
I saw them today, that is the 3 little Dabchicks who I had missed yesterday. There was 1 on its own and 2 on their own, so it looks like mum and dad (who I also saw) are trying to make the youngsters feed themselves now. Although I didnt see the 2 new adult Dabchicks I certainly heard them just upstream from the Cogglesford corner where there were before, so if they stay it looks even more likely that the dividing line between the territories is somewhere near here. I also saw the 'over the weir' little Dabchick and its now almost 2 weeks, I would love to see him back above the weir when he can fly. The last remaining Tuffty is also still around.
Dabchick the other day...
Terry
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Wed Sep 20, 2006
UPDATE FROM EARLIER
I went down the Slea again this afternoon and this time I saw the 'over the weir' Dabchick:) I also saw a total of three times today the 2 parents, once together and twice apart BUT I didnt see or hear the little Dabchicks, you can normally hear them tweet tweet tweeting for food long before you see them. I dont think this is too much to worry about unless I dont see them again tomorrow ?
Terry
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Not quite sure what this means...
I am not quite sure what this means at the moment, but I saw the 2 new 'pair' of adult Dabchicks just upstream from the corner near Cogglesford, and also the 2 parent adult Dabchicks about 20 yards away swimming further upstream. Normally they would be fighting but are the 2 parents starting to accept the 2 intruders and the demarcation of their respective territories will be somewhere between them. The other explanation is that the 2 parents are just chasing the others far enough away from their young ones so no harm comes to them and 'territories' are perhaps not something Dabchicks create. Only time and observation will tell but I do think this stretch of the Slea should be able to support a number of Dabchick families in harmony and not just 1, I base this thought on my visit to the Cromford Canal which is a well known site for Dabchick photography, there are numerous Dabchick families there which seem to get on reasonably well in a place that is very similar to this stretch of the Slea.
I only saw 1 Dabchick youngster which was up very near the Hub and it is also the first day for over a week that I havnt seen the youngster that went over the weir, but that doesnt bother me at the moment as he/she can be very hard to see sometimes.
Appologies to Colin for no photograph today :)
Terry
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Mon Sep 18, 2006
I think there are 2 more...
I think there are 2 more adult dabchicks on the Slea at the moment. I saw 3 little ones today, 1 at Cogglesford and 2 near the Hub which is the furthest upstream I have seen them so far and these 2 were also without a parent, so perhaps they are getting a little more independant. I also saw 1 of the parents at Cogglesford. Walking back I saw the 'other' adult that has been around for quite a while, this adult is not in breeding colours like our 2 parents so is easy to distinguish. I then heard 2 Dabchick emit their funny greeting 'laugh' and saw this...
...not a very good photo as it was just a grab shot, but it clearly shows another 2 adults, again not in breeding colours. I wonder how long they will stay around as our 2 parents chase the other single adult a lot and I am sure they will chase these two also. I thought only a couple of days ago that there was at least 1 extra adult but now I know there are 2. It would be nice to think that at least 1 youngster from last year has returned 'home'.
The only Tuffty left is still hanging around, it would be nice if he/she stayed but I suppose it will go away sometime, hopefully to return next year.
I also saw the Heron flying overhead and a Kingfisher near Cogglesford and not forgetting the little Dabchick that went over the weir, he/she was about 100yds past the gate after Cogglesford.
Terry
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Fri Sep 15, 2006
Still ok after a week
The Dabchick that went over the weir has survived at least a week so I think he can look after himself and he should stand as much chance of surviving as the others. I wonder when he can fly if he will go upstream and rejoin his family ?
I saw the Kingfisher on the pond in Lollycocks field today which is the first time I have seen it there.
Here is a shot of last years Dabchicks at this time of year and shows that they were a little more advanced than this years which hatched a bit later....
Terry
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Tue Sep 12, 2006
I was a little worried at first...
I was a little worried at first as I could not see the Dabchick that went over the weir, so I took my normal walk along the Slea and then went to have another look for the Dabchick. I still couldnt see it so went further downstream and about 3/4 the way from Cogglesford to the railway bridge I saw him/her :) :) :) I watched for a few minutes and saw him catch and eat a little fish so I am now convinced that he can look after him self and should survive as long as a fox or something doesn't gets him.
It was a good day really as I saw a Heron past Cogglesford for the first time in 2-3 years, I assume its a young one. I also got my best ever shot of a Kingfisher (below) - I know its not very good but it is still my best and closest attempt...
Terry
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Mon Sep 11, 2006
Good news and a little concern...
The good news is that the Dabchick that went over the weir has survived at least 3 nights and I saw it this morning preening itself so it looks like it can feed and fend for itself. However the concern is that although it can certainly catch fish (see image below) it seems that it was struggling with this one so perhaps it doesnt yet have very good technique, but hopefully good enough to survive. I will try to keep my eye on it to see if its technique improves.
The one remaining Tufted Duck was still around but I havnt seen the others for some days, so it looks like they have gone at least until next year.
Terry
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Sat Sep 09, 2006
Did the dabchick who went over the weir survive the night...
Did the dabchick who went over the weir survive the night - YES :) I think if he/she survives until Monday then it will look as though it can feed itself enough to survive, fingers crossed until Monday.
There was still only 1 Tuffty today so it looks like the others have gone, just hope to see them again next year.
Mallard splashing about today...
Terry
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Fri Sep 08, 2006
There are now only 3 baby Dabchicks...
There are now only 3 baby Dabchicks between the Hub and Cogglesford as one has gone over the weir. I doubt very much if it will find its way back as Dabchicks do not seem to get out of the water and walk very much which is what it needs to do to get back. The same happened last year and I believe that it survived so I am really hoping this one is big enough to look after its self. I will go down past the Mill quite often to see if I can still see it.
I think I was tempting fate when I said that I thought the Tuffties would soon be gone. Over the last few days I have seen 3, none and only 1 today, so they seem to at least be having 'away days' if they havnt already gon for good. I just hope that some return next year.
Picture of the Tuffty that was still around today...
Terry
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Mon Sep 04, 2006
I was more worried today...
I was more worried today than yesterday about the 'lost' little Dabchick as I again saw only 3 for a time but then I saw the 4th all on his own further down stream, however later all 4 were together with 1 of the parents (I didn't see the other parent so it may have flown ?). At least 1 of the little ones (although they are not so little any more) was catching fish all by its self so perhaps this is why 1 is quite often away from the others thinking it can look after itself and being all independent. I only saw 4 Tuffties but didn't go up to the Hub where the other one was yesterday so all 5 may still be around but I think they may disappear quite soon as they are looking quite adult in size.
I was going to call this one 'Battered Fish' but its not really very funny for the poor little fish...
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Terry
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Sun Sep 03, 2006
I am a little...
I am a little, but not overly, concerned at the moment regarding 1 of the Dabchick chicks. You may recall that 1 sometimes seems to be away from the others (I am assuming it is the same one each time otherwise they are probably just messing me about) because I only saw 3 little ones today even after walking up and down a couple of times really looking hard for the 4th. I saw the 2 parents, 1 feeding the other 3 little ones, and 1 on its own, I also saw the other adult that is around. The 4th little one was hopefully just in some reeds somewhere having a kip but it would be nice to see all 4 together again ???
I also saw 4 Tuffties near the LC bridge but had to go past the Hub to the back of the Barge and Bottle to find the other one.
The ducks are still at it as can be seen from this taken today...
Terry
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Fri Sep 01, 2006
How could I not see that...
I met Graham down the Slea this afternoon and he said he hadnt seen the Coots for a number of days, HOW could I not see that they had gone ??? Just hope we see them again next year.
Last September we were seeing this...
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Its a little sad to think that we havnt had any swans and cygnets this year , and because of lack of nesting sites, I think it may be quite awhile until we see them again :(
The 5 Tuffties are still around, I also saw 3 dabchick chicks near their reeds and also 1 on its own further upstream, later I saw all 4 together with 1 of the parents feeding them.
Terry
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