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I did another of my reasonably regular surveys of
Point Hut Pond this morning. Interesting observations were:
The pair of Black Swans that were sitting (on) when
I did my survey last month now have 3 cygnets in tow. The dy are still quite
small - my guess is that they hatched 1-2 weeks ago.
An apparent influx of Dusky Moorhens, swelling
their numbers to 18 from the more usual 11-13. This species possibly bred at the
Pond last summer but there are no recognisably juvenile/immature birds present
today. A territorial incursion/defence was in progress on the water near the
southern end of the Pond - the pursuit and retreat displays illustrated in
Taylor's (1998) "Rails" were both being enthusiastically exhibited by the
protagonists.
The influx of some migrants/partial
migrants isn't really in full swing so far in this area - no
Reed-Warblers yet (usually 3 or 4 pair during summer) and only 4 Welcome
Swallows (none at all present in my July and August surveys).
The most abundant species today (as they usually
are) were Purple Swamphen and Eurasian Coot. One thing I have noticed about
these is that as the numbers of one species increase, the numbers of the other
species decrease - the equilibrium point seems to be around 40 of each. As I've
only been doing these surveys every 2-3 months (until recently when I've been
trying to go monthly) for a bit less than 2 years, I obviously don't
have enough data to discern whether this is a real trend or just an accident -
but I'll keep an eye on how things pan out as I get more counts
done.
Bruce
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