Escaped ornamentals can be a problem to identify but that wasn't the case with the black swan that I saw on Stockers Lake today. I almost missed it as it seems to spend far more time with its head down than a mute swan. Apart from that a walk around the lakes at Rickmansworth produced nothing exciting in terms of unusual species. There were plenty of tufties, pochard, coot, mallard, mute swans, cormorants and gadwall as well as a solitary shoveller. I passed a heron very close to the path who seemed quite unconcerned about my presence and was also lucky enough to see a great crested grebe swallowing a fish. Undergrowth had been cleared from some of the islands and one seemed to be full of lapwings. There are bird feeders by a couple of hides which were getting attention from blue and great tits and one also had a party of rats feeding on the discarded seeds underneath. Judging by the sizes I would guess a family party of two adults and two juveniles. On the wooded part of the
Once upon a time you could find me birding on the Thames marshes almost every weekend through the winter. For various reasons I am now seldom able to travel to good birding sites. I am lucky, however, to live in the beautiful Chiltern Hills and this blog is to document the birds that I see on my own patch.