We wanted to see how many of the geese babies were still there.
Nope, no geese were there, and so I focused on a bathing Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), in the first half of the post (5 shots) and then some Red Knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata) babies in the second half of the post (5 shots).
Now I wonder if you have ever seen how a moorhen baths? I think that I must have shared it once or twice in my blog somewhere in the past. They are very strong, or should I say violent bathers, but I think when it comes to violent bathing, our little Robin is also up for the medals. A big difference in size of course, but very much the same habits.
A slow start to wet the body, and gradually working to a peak, as you will see below.
I was too slow to retract the zoom in order to get both wings fully opened, but I think that this is still good enough.
This reminded me so about my days in the construction fields, as so many times, I also had to grab a quick wash up when some important person appeared unexpectedly on the construction site. Normally one of the big bosses, or an engineer that wanted to change something on the building plans. I am not talking about building houses, but rather about big layouts for multi story buildings.
But enough of my memories, and let's rather see if we could find the coot babies.
The parents were hanging out deeper in the pond (2 shots).
And ah, there were the babies still cluttered together since their birth (3 shots below).
The parents don't want the babies in open water, as when they see a predator bird above, they sound an alarm, and the babies dive down below the water leaves of the plants. They can disappear in an instant, and no luck for the bird of prey above to grab a meal. Very clever I think, as it is an ideal way to protect the babies.
Wildlife has instinctive ways to protect their young, but sadly there are also what I call food factories for the predators, as for instance, a guinea fowl will have 13 small ones, and normally only one or two survive. Very much the same scenario plays it out as far as the Egyptian geese are concerned, as they also have 11 or 12 babies, and only one or two survive.
We have eagles, hawks, and falcons parading in the skies on a lookout for prey and nothing small below are safe.
Such is life.
I hope that you enjoyed the photos and the story.
Photos and words by Zac Smith. No AI and no Photoshop. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Until next time. Shalom!
You sure got a lot of fabulous photos of the birds. I love all the lily pads too! Such cute little babies.
Ah, lily pads, I know that word so well, but lately there is a curtain drawn over my mind :)
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That moorhen sure takes a very splashy bath doesn't it? Robbie really does give it a run for it's money though, but definitely on a much smaller scale. You wouldn't want to be too close when the moorhen bathes or you will get wet by the looks of it! lol
Those are some cute babies you found there of the coots. They aren't newborns but still young enough to need their mother's protection and instruction on how to survive. The wild is a tough place to survive, if the bird doesn't learn well it will end up the snack of a predator. The way of the world sadly, even in humans when it comes to business or power...
Amazing that the geese and guinea fowl have so many young only to have one or two survive. Just goes to show how rough the real world really is! Thanks for sharing those great pictures, I hope you and the wife are doing well. And that your camera arm is holding up well still, you have lots more pictures left in you yet! A tip as always!
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