Birds at the Park, January 9: The Coldest Day

[dragoness_e]

January 9 was bitterly cold, down in the upper 20s/lower 30s. (For here, that's cold. I know about you people up north.) I was worried slightly concerned that the birds would be hungry for lack of park-goers to feed them.

I need not have worried. Apparently rain keeps people away, not cold. Several people were out feeding the birds large bags of bread. I found the cygnets, almost grown now, being feed by a nice lady with a whole bag of crumbs.



Swan and 3 cygnets grazing on bread crumbs


Notice how large the cygnets have gotten.

Cygnets, mostly grown


Note the near-adult size and the more adult configuration of the feathers. Also notice how they stand and walk confidently, as opposed to just a month or two ago, when they could barely stand up for five minutes at a time.

Cygnet, showing reddening beak


Note how the beak is slowly turning to adult red. Last time, it was a little pinkish under the gray; now it is distinctly redder.

Enter the White Swan King


Someone else showed up to claim his share of the bread crumbs.

White Swan vs. Black


There you two go, making with the threat displays again! (White swan has arched wings, black swan has fluffed neck feathers and arched wings.

Oddball Ibis


Among the white ibises gathering to snatch up the crumbs was this brownish one. It proved to be a juvenile white ibis.

Note: if you ever need to identify birds, this is a good site to look up good, clear photos of birds in both breeding and non-breeding plumage, and even hear the sounds of their calls.

Comments

[wrongly-amused.livejournal.com]

I'd say you guys are a bunch of pansies if you can't handle a little cold, but then I remember how much I loathed the humidity of the South, so I gotta respect.