It’s been a pretty quiet week at BirdsasPoetry Worldwide HQ.
We’ve not made any financial Take-over Offers, nor it seems have we been the subject of a Reddit share raid.
The weather has also been suitably unkind to those of us who ‘commit photography’, so it’s been home under the doona a couple more days. Given our experience during the long lockdown because of the ‘c’ word, it hasn’t been too onerous.
It also seems that the majority of the birds we have been working with, have finalised their nesting cycles and are also settling into preparing the winter stretch. Our local backyard Blackbird is already showing the signs of shedding her worn feathers and her mate has a strange bald patch above his beak and across his head, which I take to mean he too is getting ready to dress to impress as the cooler days come by.
One of the exceptions to this trend are the local White-plumed Honeyeaters, and we did discover quite a number of them during the week collecting cobweb for a fine new house among the leaves.
I called Mr An Onymous, and he informed me the Jawbone Great Crested Grebes had hatched, and so with his medical appointments and mine coinciding with a small blank space in both diaries, we locked into go looksee.
The two adults, one sitting on the nest, with still one egg to hatch, and the second one in the water feeding the infants with tiny fish and other assorted tiny water creatures, all looked good like very relaxed and adapted caring parents.
When I had a good look at the photos afterward, you know, ‘blowed up big on the screen to pixel-peep (I jest— insert smile and laughs here), I noted a small bald patch on the young as they peeked out from under the adults wing-feathers,
Closer inspection showed how much it looks like a “Love Heart”. I presume its because the upper feathers fold down over the spot sufficiently to create the shape.
Interestingly Andew T. (follower of present blog) also sent around a note to the interested noting the same markings.
For the fanciful among us, perhaps it’s a special “Love” bond between the parents and their tiny offspring.
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER - --doesn't mean I'm LOST 
Great to know they have hatched and wonderful to see the image! I keep trying to find the time and motivation to head on over to have a look. The weather certainly hasn’t been that great for getting out, c’est la vie! And when I have been out there is not much happening.
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They are now out in the ponds around the Quest Appartments. No doubt in the next few days they will move on to the wider lakes.
The weather is …. I’ve already packed away the thongs and boardshorts as they won’t be getting a run anytime soon. 😉
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That’s a wonderful, peaceful shot David. I love the little one peeping out from the wing. Curious about the marking on the head – it will be interesting to see if the second chick has the same little patch.
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Thanks for the insight Eleanor, I just had to find some more info, thanks to Ashley, (aussiebirder) for giving me a hint to get started.
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A wonderful opportunity David, to see them so young, we have seen them a little older when they are stripy and swimming but not this year, as many waterbirds seem to have left our area during the cool wet windy weather. Lovely shot of the nestling, it is an interesting marking on the crown, apparently it goes scarlet red when they are hungry or distressed thus a form of singling to the parent, and within minutes of settling down it returns to a paler colour.
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Hi Ashley, this is the very first pair we’ve had nest in the area. I didn’t even know they were a pair as they tended to keep to the further ends of the ponds from each other. So it was a bit of a suprise.
With so much rain, the ph value in the freshwater lakes has changed and many of the waterbirds have abandoned the area in search of more fertile hunting.
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