This afternoon we visited the Arundel Wetland Centre. In just 90 minutes we enjoyed a half hour boat safari where we spotted a Grey Heron being mobbed by Black-headed Gulls; a young Pike sheltering in the shallows (it was about 8" long); shoals and shoals of tiny young fish, a regal Swan, three different species of Damselfly (Red-eyed; Blue tailed and Azure) and loads and loads of Ducks!
Our guide explained that the reason the female Mallards seemed to have either black or yellow beaks was because the yellow-beaked ones were actually drakes who were moulting and that this is called eclipse plumage. During this moult they lose all their feathers, including the flight ones, so it is important that they are well camouflaged to try and keep them safe from predators. Once the flight feathers have regrown (which can take anything from a few weeks to a few months) they go through another, less extreme, moult where they regain their bright colours.
After our boat safari June and December played in the Pond Skaters play area before we headed to the bird feeding station on the other side of the visitor centre. For a cost of 20p each, the three of us had a good handful of grain to entice birds to feed and December and I were thrilled that these birds fed from our hands as neither of us had managed it before.
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