Murderous Mute Swans

On Saturday morning with a cold North-westerly wind blowing in my face, I whiled away an hour or so on the jetty at Wilstone Reservoir, swapping news with Steve, a birding friend from Tring. We were watching a Water Pipit threading a path through a gaggle of sleeping Shovellers, as it worked it's way busily along the water's edge, when something rather strange caught my eye. For a few seconds I couldn't work out what was happening. A Mute Swan had clambered onto the back off another Swan and was pecking violently at it's neck and head as the half submerged victim swam slowly towards the spit in a desperate bid to escape. This proved to be a bad move as the stricken bird soon became beached in the shallow water and unable to break free, lay prostrate, neck outstretched as it's assailant rained down blows and attempted to hold it's head under water. Several other curious Swans soon gathered at the scene of the crime and I feared that they were going to join in the attempted murder, but instead they became very territorial and set about squabbling with each other. Steve told me that he had witnessed Mute Swans trying to drown each other before and had once seen a man in a rowing boat repeatedly beating a Swan with an oar in a bid to persuade it to release it's victim. We had begun to talk about the possibility of making a strategic rescue bid when the aggressor suddenly seemed to lose interest and stepped off it's bedraggled victim, who waddled unsteadily onto the spit, only to be chased away by another Swan. Many people believe that nature should be allowed to take it's course but I am a confirmed intervener, so I was relieved when the situation resolved itself without our help.

Eurasian Coot

I took these photos of an oddly marked Coot at Wilstone Reservoir way back in October 2009, so was quite surprised to see the same bird again a few days ago. Coot numbers are building up at the reservoirs, probably encouraged by the low water levels, with at least 1500 at Wilstone recently.

Eurasian Coot Fulica atra - Wilstone Reservoir (18/10/09)

Eurasian Coot Fulica atra - Wilstone Reservoir (18/10/09)

Red Admiral

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (5/7/2008)

This morning I found a beautiful Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta, basking lazily on a clump of flowering ivy in the mellow late Autumn sun. It has been a good year for these elegant butterflies and there are still plenty on the wing in Gardens and Orchards taking advantage of the mild October weather. Sadly, it looks as if the butterfly year is about to end with the weather forecast to turn cold, windy and wet next week. It will be a long wait until Spring when the first Brimstones are on the wing again!

 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (5/7/2008)

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (19/7/2006)