A moorhen suddenly arrived in our garden 3 weeks ago and has been here ever since. There is no pond or water around here apart from the one about 3 miles away. I feed a variety of birds in the garden and provide feed for them all, ranging from sunflower seeds, peanuts, suet, and mealworms. Although Maurice (yes we named him this!) is a delight to watch during the day, I am concerned as the days/weeks go by that it is not in the right habitat and am worried that it is not getting sufficient food. Or is it simply 'lost'?
Maurice will sit quite happily in the rhododendron bush during the day and it is getting quite used to me putting the feed out for the birds and does not run off like he used to. Every night he flies up into the large yew trees we have at the bottom of our garden for the night and he emerges again in the morning at feeding time and for a bath. I have provided him with a large deep tray for his bathing which he enjoys - once an old cat litter tray that used to belong to my dear old cat. Is this type of behaviour normal for a moorhen and will it return 'home' soon? I do hope so, although I become rather fond of him!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr