Young Birds on Reading University Lakes

The young Egyptian goose has now got its adult plumage.  A week ago it was still looking rather scruffy with patches of brown adult feathers sprouting out of the grey fluffy down.  Now it looks very smart.

A coot nesting on the large lake had 6 tiny chicks yesterday afternoon.  They seemed to overflow the nest and whenever one of their parents came back to the nest one or two of them would swim out to meet them.  These more adventurous ones will surely get more food than the timid ones that stay at home, but they are also more likely to fall prey to the pike that lurk under the surface.  Adult coots are normally fairly territorial but Zoe and I were surprised to see one of the parents attacking a swan that drifted too close the nest.  The swan seemed to take heed of the warning and moved off, however, a bit later we saw the same swan chasing off some Canada geese for no apparent reason.