Red Kite

A red kite (Milvus milvus), photographed from our living room window. As I have probably said before, they are fairly common in the Reading area, but this is the best photo I have managed in several years of trying.  I just never seem to have the camera ready when they appear.

Photo taken in Reading, UK on 2009-10-24.

Red Kite over Broad Street, Reading

I was walking along Broad Street, Reading at lunch time today when a red kite flew out from over Marks and Spencer's.  I slowed my pace so as not to bump into anyone, and watched while it drifted off at roof-top level in the direction of the Oracle shopping centre.  The black, brown and white markings on the underside of its wings were clearly visible.

This is not the first time I have seen one of these birds from Broad Street.   See here for details.

Red Grouse

From early August: a red grouse.  Nowadays these are regarded as a subspecies of the the willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus).  This photo was taken only few days before the start of the shooting season, and Zoe was trying to drive these birds in the direction of the forest, where they would be safe from the guns, but she wasn't having much success.

Photo taken on Guisborough Moor, North Yorkshire, on 2009-08-06.

Young Mandarin Duck

A young mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) and its mother.  Initially I assumed that these were wood ducks (Aix sponsa) but I now see that the mother has the 'mandarin whiskers' on its cheeks, and the white line at the base of the beak does not continue over the top, as it tends to in female wood ducks.

Photo taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-06-11.

Competition for Nest Sites between Sand Martins and Coots

Walking along Kennetside this morning, I saw a couple of sand martins (Riparia riparia) flying up and down the river.  This itself is unusual because I cannot remember having seen sand martins before, certainly not since I moved down south in 1988.  Hence I was quite surprised to see them in central Reading. 

On the north side of that part of the river there are several rainwater run-off pipes that stick out from the bank.  At one point, one of the martins swooped down to the mouth of a pipe, but a nearby coot (Fulica atra) raised it head as if surprised, and the martin flew up and away.  Then a few seconds later the sand martin came down again and, this time manage to perch at the entrance of the pipe.  However, when the coot saw this, it flew up, scaring the sand martin away, and  then stood itself in the entrance to the pipe, as if standing guard.  The martins then flew off up the river and, after a little while, the coot flew back down to the water and continued with what it had been doing before the interruption.

I have noticed coots trying to nest in those pipes before, but I don't think any can have succeeded because in heavy rain the flow of water from the pipes is so great that it would easily wash out any nest material.

Update on Fri 2009-06-12 by Tristram Brelstaff

The sand martins are more persistent than I thought.  On two occasions since then I have seen them going in and out of the same pipes, and the coot was nowhere to be seen.