We just went for a walk over to the swan nest to check on them. She was diligently nestled on her big pile of twigs, her head tucked down over her back. I asked her when her babies were due. She tilted her head slightly to look at me, but said nothing. Well, they are mute swans, after all.
A littler farther up, K spotted a moor hen prowling around in one of the marshy spots in the middle of the stream. Then she noticed a few tiny puffs of jet black fuzz hobbling around amongst the twigs and leaves. The moor hen has five little chicks! They are so small and black that you can hardly see what they are, just little black bits of feather with a tiny, red beak on one end. They could hardly negotiate their way around. The moor hen ushered them all back to her nest and one by one, they popped down underneath her. Moor hens aren't very big, so I don't know how she keeps them all in there. Very cute. K will try to go take some pictures of them tomorrow.
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Keeping our fingers crossed against the prospect of bird flu coming down here. Hoping that Winchester will remain untouched. We don't want to lose our feathered friends!
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