The weather may have been atrocious this morning for the Hide Session at The Loons Hide but it didn't stop the serious business of getting the next generation of birds underway. At times the rain was lashing in through the open windows but everywhere I looked, I could see birds in pairs. A pair of mute swans proved a good indicator of when the next wave of rain was coming across, making a bee-line for the shelter of the tall reeds. At one point, as the rain eased off, a pair of shovelers came cautiously out from behind some reeds. No sooner had they reached the other side of the stretch of water when a second pair emerged from the same spot. Other birds clearly in pairs were pied wagtails, tufted ducks, mallards and wigeon. Most striking of all was a pair of teal looking just like an illustration from a bird guide.
I spotted a little grebe displaying with, apparently, not another little grebe in sight. However little grebes are great divers and another may well have been underwater. Later on there I did see two together - one on a floating patch of vegetation, possibly trying it out for size as a nest site, and the other swimming round it. Little grebes are also known as dabchicks but the Orkney name is little footyarse (this is normally written as two words but the RSPB web site won't allow me to show the last four letters as a separate word). The German name for them, zwergtaucher, translates as "dwarf diver".
Picture : Little Grebe adult at nest with chicks by Mike Richards (rspb-images.com) - a taste of things to come?
There will be two more Hide sessions at The Loons - 29 April and 6 May - before we take a break to allow for the Orkney Nature Festival - www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/ORKNEYNATUREFESTIVAL/ . On 20 May we have the first Hide Session at the Burgar Hill Hide and after that the Monday sessions alternate between The Loons and Burgar Hill. For up to date info, contact the office on 01856 850176 or orkney@rspb.org.uk . Or check out the RSPB Orkney Facebook page.
As for me, I'm looking forward to seeing the results of all this activity in the shape of lots of chicks of many different shapes, sizes and colours.