Sunday 16 March 2014

The swans are nesting


It was another day of brilliant sunshine with hardly a cloud and temperatures reaching 22.5C here.  We made the most of the fabulous weather and went out in the boat and looked to see whether we could spot the kingfishers' nest.  The current is still quite strong, even though the river appears placid enough, and there weren't many boats making the most of Sunday on the river.

As we went upstream we saw several pairs of swans determined to establish their territory by means of impressive displays and outright aggression.

 The first chase we saw

A determined attack

This swan made sure that he saw off his opponent and pursued it until it was out of its territory.  The 'loser' finally flew off and then circled back to a safer spot downstream.

Another attempt to drive of a rival

Further upstream a determined swan followed an intruder until it had flown beyond its territory.  We think that the rival swan doubled back once its attacker gave up the chase!

While we were out we saw that the red crested pochards were back on the river near Garrick's Ait.  No doubt they'll be down to feed here in a few weeks.

As for the blue tits . . . I'll let you know tomorrow what they're up to.  They've surprised us!

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