We live in Grimsby - going into town shopping today we passed by one of the old docks which links a retail park area with our main 'shopping mall'. We noticed four large cygnets (which I'd seen before with their parents) but no sign of the adult birds, until we got past a weir which blocks off the seaward part of the dock from the landward side. There we saw the two adults feeding. Watching for a few minutes 'mum' started to get agitated, and seemed to be looking for and calling to the cygnets. We watched her climb out of the water, up the bank, and then lost sight of her as she presumably went to find the kids! 'Dad' carried on feeding for a few minutes but suddenly looked up, looked around, and seemed quite surprised not to see the family with him. Sure enough, on our way back 30 minutes later, the family were all together again. A lovely little drama, which, although there were many people passing by, only seemed to be noticed by us.
It just goes to show, you don't have to go anywhere special (or take very long) to see interesting and charming bird or animal behaviour, so keep your eyes open!
Make the boy interested in natural history if you can; it is better than games [Robert Falcon Scott]
That is so very true - and what a lovely story. I'm glad it had a happy ending. Near to our town centre a pair of swans return each year to nest by the river and it is not unusual to see up to seven cygnets plus parents to-ing and fro-ing across a rather busy road to go from bushes to river (runs alongside the road) and back again.
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!