Another glorious summer day, and one of the most amazing happenings with Popeye and Penny since they came here.
Popeye escorted one of their female offspring back to the nesting site while Penny was sitting on the new clutch ! I can only surmise what was going on, but it looked like he was flirting with his offspring.
Penny was having none of it and was off the nest in a flash and into attack mode, chasing the cygnet away.
Perhaps the young cygnet was an earlier version of Penny, and Popeye could not resist the attraction !
Anyway this evening all was restored, and Popeye was dutifully sitting beside his partner and their future offspring to be.
Quite amazing Joe!! I notice 4 of them hanging about the harbour mouth still frequently!
ReplyDeleteYes those were the last ones to leave the river, they have been feeding around the golf view and swimming pool area for the past month. I have a strong suspicion that the one who came up river with Popeye, is the one that was chased for about 2 weeks by Penny, she must have known that she was a potential threat to her, although the cygnets are not mature until 3or 4 years old.
ReplyDeleteJoe i am not seeing any ducks up the river from the road bridge to the Jubilee bridge as i usually carry some bread and seed for them but this last week or so its been a no show--are they nesting at the moment or what--cheers Joe.
ReplyDeleteHi Greenleaf,
ReplyDeleteMost of the ducks are now nesting, but the Otters are also active lately. This might account for you not seeing many in that area just now. Usually you will only see the drakes hanging around from now on until the ducks start hatching. I expect from the start of May onwards we should see some ducklings....providing the crows don't eat them all first !