The snow has been falling, the wind blowing, and the rain
pouring down onto Nottingham - of course this can only mean its spring. It has
been a while since I took a visit to the university lake, and despite the
recent strange weather, it is like somebody has waved a wand over the lake,
transforming it while I have been home for Easter. The black headed gulls that
were so numerous have vanished and taken with them the grey and drab cloth that
swamped us over winter. In every corner of the lake a nest has risen out of the
water to host a coot family that is soon to arrive. Some new arrivals on the
lake who looked like something crafted by the devil himself, and a slightly
older friend from last term I was a delight to meet again too. Everything is
happening on the lake, and I can’t wait to see what may happen next!
On first arrival, I caught a glimpse of my first nesting
Eurasian Coot. There she sat, very satisfied with her arrangement of sticks and
leaves piled up high in the water. The lady of the house had to constantly
maintain her mound in this shallower part of the lake to avoid her home being
swept beneath her with the gentle currents. As usual, I was transfixed by her
forthrightness as she was plumping all her leaf cushions, shaking them and
patting them down on her bed ready for her babies to arrive. I wasn’t too sure
what difference this made as the bed didn’t seemed to change all too much from
before she had started organising her nest, but I got the feeling this was a
very important task that needed to be attended to.
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the Eurasian Coot, very proud of her nest in the scummy corner
of the lake |
While I felt quite privileged
being able to watch this one nest so close, it was not long before I realised coot
nests had popped up all over the lake. All along both sides of the lake the
water is quite shallow, meaning nine nests in total were made all along the
banks of the lake. There was one nest amongst the willow tree branches where
the twigs could easily be bundled together, held by the long fingers of the
willow branches like a leafed cage around the home. Another had been dumped in
a slightly unexpected place, amongst the scurvy and scummy remnants of rubbish,
twigs and slime. The gentle currents in the lake pushed surface debris to this
south corner of the lake, perhaps making it easy to gather nearby items quickly,
before it would be broken down by the slow running water.
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The nest tucked into the bank of the lake, and the Coot pruning
her feathers in the rain |
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| believe it or not a family live here! |
In contrary to my initial thoughts, it soon became apparent
that the coots had no good sense of housekeeping at all in their nest building.
While they did spend a substantial amount of time ensuring the nest remained
sturdy and intact, this is the point that I stopped agreeing with their
requirements of a good home. I came across yet another nest in the lake in one
of the grimiest locations they could have chosen. Between some black railings
and a few willow branches that had rooted amongst a pile of stagnant rubbish
settled my best find of the day. Out from behind the rubbish, emerged three ugly
and wrinkly individuals, with heads red like fire with tufts of burnt off
feathers, sprouting out these strange evil looking minions’ necks. I laughed to
myself as the coot parents doted upon these horrible children, a parent’s love
really is blind.
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| the ugly little chick next to an unhatched egg |
While I was happy to see the new arrivals, my heart leapt
when I found a slightly older friend who I had met last term. I was concerned
after walking most of the way around the lake and catching no sign of the
Egyptian Goose family. My worries were set aside however, when then there he
was, barely recognisable, a gangly and strange looking teenage chick, bumbling
around on the boat ramp. The father was nowhere to be seen, as Billy (which I
have now named him) is old enough to only need the care of one parent. The
transformation that can happen in the space of a month is still hard to
believe. The look of strength in his legs now was phenomenal, fully grown and
just waiting for his adolescent body to catch up. His body was now half the size of an adult, and his proper juvenile feathers had come through. It was
magical to see him from the fluffy little ball I had first met curled up in the
sun. Through frosts, and wind, and snow, rain and sleet, this little chick had
grown up so much and it was a wonderful thing to see.
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| mother and chick, or now teenager |
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| Billy looking very gangly - still has a lot of growing to do! |
