New Arrivals

After yesterday's scouring of the riverside, today could not have been more different. Sunshine, tranquil waters and people with smiling faces. Tide was again high and I wondered if Popeye and Penny were allowing a future Penny offspring to sit atop the nest site as of their right ? 

If you check the close up of penny and one of her daughter's you will see the similarity on the bill - where the orange bill meets the black cheek. There is a tiny v shape, this is how I can tell our swans apart, it takes time to study these small items but the genes do show through.

We also had two new winter visitor arrivals, a little Grebe and a Wigeon, the little grebe is tiny when compared to a Mallard, with a cute little powder puff rear end !