Below: a pair of greylag geese (gęgawy). According to Wikipedia, only 1,500 pairs nest in Poland, mainly in western parts. So a rarity around here. They look like they're eyeing up the neighbourhood with a view to moving in. Wonder what he's saying to her... "Those rushes over there look promising... let's hope the swans haven't got there first..."
Below, left: this is the male common pochard (canvasback in North America). To its right, the most common denizen of the ponds right now, a black-headed gull (mewa śmieszka); black tail-band indicating a young adult.
This (thanks A.) is a black-necked grebe (perkoz zausznik) in breeding plumage. Like the pochard, the grebe is a diver, and disappears entirely under water to surface a couple of metres away.
The swans are with us, no doubt busy with nest-making; there are a great many black-headed gulls, mallard ducks (kaczka krzyżówka); and as I mentioned yesterday, swifts (jerzyki) can be seen zooming across the surface of the water (below).
Across the tracks I could hear skylarks, flying too high to be seen. Local birds I didn't see today include the lapwing (czajka), the marsh harrier (błotniak stawowy) and the grey heron (czapla siwa).
A hello to Jeziorki's regulars... A juvenile swan swims up to me on the off-chance that I've got some food (he's in luck - I have some wholegrain bread left from lunch).
And a pair of mallards - drake and duck - making their way out of the main southern pond to cross ul. Dumki to the southernmost and smallest of the ponds.
Apropos of Ornithology - give Charlie Parker a listen: this classic belongs to the ages.
This time last year:
How To Spend It - or not.
This time two years ago:
Blossomtime sublime
This time five years ago:
Novotel Forum clad in Orange
This time six years ago:
Prophesies
This time seven years ago:
Icelandic volcano shuts down NW Europe air traffic
This time nine years ago:
Large, charismatic fowl
This ten nine years ago:
Antonov An-26 in the twilight of its career
2 comments:
The bird is perkoz zausznik
A
@ Many thanks A - duly added to the text :-)
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