Moorhens nesting

MOORHENS abound along the Bourne Eau in South Street and the waterway that runs through the Wellhead Gardens where they nest every year, using any available space that comes along. But this summer, one enterprising pair has utilised a discarded traffic cone as home for its brood of six young, seen here with the male baby-sitting while the mother was out looking for food.

These distinctive water birds (Gallinula chloropus) have a black body and red bill with a shield above and white feathers under the tail, and they live on ponds, lakes and quiet rivers and streams and can often be seen bobbing their heads up and down and flicking their tails as they swim to and fro.

They feed on grassy banks and in nearby fields and usually nest in reeds, bushes and trees near water but this upturned plastic traffic cone has proved to be an ideal site, durable, weatherproof and roomy for the latest arrivals that have recently hatched.

Stan McCrae, who walks regularly in the Wellhead Gardens and always carries his camera, found the family on Monday morning, well settled into their new but temporary home in the river, close to the stone bridge that crosses from South Street to the car park where they are already attracting the interest of many passers-by.

WRITTEN 5TH JULY 2006