Filicide…. This should not happen in nature..

It was quite a spectacular morning watching this mother feed her three chicks…. I have only ever seen them with two at the most, but this mother had three…. Every time she dived to get a little water weed the young would crowd around to get their share…

Now this may sound strange that I say I’ve never seen a mother with three chicks, but I will quote for you from the internet about this bird…. “It is a resident breeder across much of Africa and in southern most Spain on freshwater lakes and ponds. It builds a nest of dead reeds near the water’s edge or more commonly afloat, laying about 8 eggs (or more in good conditions). However, its behaviour towards its own young is so aggressive that only a few are likely to survive to adulthood.

So I say again, it was a pleasure to watch this mother feed her three young instead of chasing them away… now that is when you call a bird by the female of a dog…. a bitch…

and all they actually want to do is cuddle with their Mom…

How can a Mother not like that..????????

Coots cute eggs… breeding time for Coots..

The Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata)

A noisy bird, an aggressive bird, it is likely to bully any intruder, even large birds such as Egyptian geese. It can be seen swimming on open water or walking across waterside grasslands. It is an aggressive species, and strongly territorial during the breeding season.

But what I hate about this bird – and I don’t hate many – its behaviour towards its own young is so aggressive, that only a few are likely to survive to adulthood.

I took a few photos of the birds with their young, lucky for them too far away to even throw a stone at them. They chase them, peck at their heads, how any parent can behave such towards its own young amazes me. Actually I hate this bird because of that. I accept that in certain species the young will fight in the nest till one is killed and then the other gets all the food. Natures survival of the strongest… but this is a parent against its own offspring….

I spoke to a pigeon about this and it informed me it closes its eye to such bad behaviour…

It also said the other alternate is to look the other way….

But as it looked down there was a Coot nesting below …

Were there eggs, would any of these survive??? I will be watching to see what happens…

Red-knobbed Coot..

An aquatic rail, moorhen that is found in most dams, rivers and streams.. it has long lobed feet that assist it to swim, but is not a member of the duck family with web feet…

The red knobs on it’s head are larger in breading birds and grey in the juvenile birds.

A water weed eater, mainly, but is considered an omnivore, and will take small live prey and the eggs of other water birds.

A few photos I took on Friday last…

The Weed eater………..

And now for something I can’t understand, a bird that dives to the bottom to get weeds, then needs to take a bath!!!

Adjust a few feathers……….

And then check in it’s purse for parking money……

Red-knobbed Coot.

The Red-knobbed Coot or Crested Coot, (Fulica cristata),

is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae.

The Red-knobbed Coot is largely black except for the white facial shield. It is 38–45 cm (15–18 in) long, spans 75–85 cm (30–33 in) across the wings and weighs 585–1,085 g (1.29–2.39 lb.). As a swimming species, it has partial webbing on its long strong toes. The juvenile is paler than the adult, has a whitish breast, and lacks the facial shield; the adult’s black plumage develops when about 3-4 months old, but the white shield is only fully developed at about one year old, some time later.

These photos taken at Rietvlei Dam….