... with one eye open.

By Chamaeleo

Peaceful coot?

Cooter Cuter in large ("L").
This coot is deceptively peaceful-looking... They're like ticking time-bombs; it is only a matter of time before they're attacking/chasing/harassing something or other. In this instance, it was another coot that became the target of this one's unbridled rage.

There was an amazing amount of hubbub on the pond today: as well as the usual Egyptian goose family, there were a few extra adult birds. They were all trying to stand on the island, but the father goose had other thoughts, and seemed to consider that entirely unacceptable, so he spent the entire time that I was there chasing other geese off the island. He got in such a frenzy: he'd chase off other adults, his offspring, and even leave the island to drive the others further away.
It was all in vain: as soon as he wasn't looking, or was chasing away another bird, the others would simply get back on the island nonchalantly.
The mother and father were making quite a few strange noises: they were both making a lot of chattering, staccato clicking honks, which is unusual.

When I returned this afternoon it was more of the same really, although away from the pond. The 8 fledglings were grazing, and the parents were chasing away other adults. As well as two (other) pairs of large mature geese, there were 4 smaller, less mature birds with very pink beaks (not marbled) and quite slight stature: could those be four of the parents' first breed perhaps?

I was going to put one of the aerial chases on blipfolio, but seem to have run out of space in my two Egyptian Goose albums... Ought I to take a hint?

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