At the beginning of our parkland we have a series of small ponds. One morning Lewis called me and told that he had spotted a beaver in the pond. Jennifer and I rushed down with my camera and a tele lens. But the beaver was illusive. Although he had allowed Merlin to get into the pond with him, he retired underneath some tree branches and bushes, where we only could see the nose and eyes sticking out and I didn’t succeed in catching any photos at all.
But the pond has silted up over the years, and on a small island in the pond a moorhen has built its nest. She was lying on her eggs (she had five eggs) as we came down and later took a swim in our pond looking for food.
As most of you know by now, Lewis gardens and parks are very well kept. A moorhen’s nest on the other hand is quite untidy, but Lewis didn’t seem to mind this intrusion into his perfectly organised gardens
The orange/red bill and the yellow beak of the moorhen are actually a sign telling other moorhens how healthy they are. The red is related to low levels of bacterial infection and the yellow to certain blood parameters. And the brighter and more saturated the colours are, the more attractive the bird is to other moorhens.
