Posts by ChrisW
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Then it perked up – something downstream caught its eye?
And quickly turned around – this really is the same bird a few seconds later, with strikingly different stance and see the apparent change in plumage (known as nuptial plumage for some reason …).
Mate arrives, here caught just at the last phase of folding its wings, legs bent helping to absorb the landing impact – and the first bird though stationary has matching stance.
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Capture: Upside Down, Inside Out, in reply to Jos,
You need a webcam on that branch I recon Chris.
That’s an idea. Way back when, on one of the first postings of birds on this willow log I remember describing the bird goings on there as an ongoing soap opera. Another sequence now as evidence –
A white-faced heron in hunched mode, not especially attractive in itself but caught my eye because it was doing a reasonable job of mimicking the very last walnut leaf on the branch above (even if it wasn't stretching out horizontally).
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On the riverbank, this time yesterday, passing showers -
What's wetter than a shag?And a minute later (see what I didn't do there?) -
Things are looking up. -
Capture: Upside Down, Inside Out, in reply to Jos,
Splendid! That group of shags working together is of 'little black shags', very characteristic of that particular species. I see them doing this now and then in the Taruheru at lowish tide, generally over half of them swimming under water at any one time, but rather than "herding" fish I rather think it's more like drag-netting and they'll take each fish as they find it. Definitely cooperative in maximising the chances of each individual in the group by minimising the chance a prey-fish would escape.
Most remarkable is seeing say 12-18 of them on one side of the river channel with a white-faced heron keeping pace with them stalking along off the end of the line in the shallow edge and grabbing the odd would-be escapee. But never seen with camera in hand or handy.
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Capture: Upside Down, Inside Out, in reply to Jos,
I witnessed shaggery going on this morning as one tried to pinch the other's eel
Very impressive capture! Yours and the shag's. I've not seen a shag with an eel that big before. With that feeding technique, a sizeable eel would be very hard for a shag to share.
Most entertaining to see them swallow a flounder - it takes them quite a while to get a flounder rolled up enough to swallow, even a small one, but worth the trouble apparently. Never seen when digital camera to hand ... -
Harumph! And who do you think you're looking at!
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On the riverbank,
Sheila the pied shag was still nervous when any large creature approached from behind, even if its beak looked harmless enough. -
Before the rain and southerly ...
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Snow not too far away in the hills tonight ...
This WalnutDrop with animalistic appearance, possibly influenced by Triceratops, but cheerful like?A different angle, and the image refracted in through the right side of the drop is that of the dawn redwood tree beyond to the left -
Indeed, more readily appreciated when upside down.
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Capture: Upside Down, Inside Out, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Oh, sorry, wrong song.
One of life's mysteries to ponder - why no songs about walnut trees? Meanwhile,
early one morning just as the sun was rising,
I saw a walnut branchlet with two heavy drops below.
