Firstly thank you all for telling me about the cooing of a
bronzewing pigeon.
At Kelly’s swamp this morning, the Royal spoonbill
pair at the back of the tree were busy nest building.
The pair at the front mated at 6-13 am, but did little
else. I guess it makes sense to mate first and then build the nest
because it would take some days from fertilisation until a fully formed egg would
be ready to lay.
On 7th November last year one pair mated at 6-25
am and then straight away got on with nest building.
At Bittern Hide, there were two adult purple swamphens, each
feeding two chicks. I don’t know whether they were a single family
unit sharing the chores, or the remnants of two families after the foxes had
taken their fill. These very young chicks were being left to wander
around alone quite a bit. Guess the number may soon be reduced.
Perhaps someone could tell me how old this chick would be.
Margaret Leggoe
