This post goes for 'Show me a photo (of a bird)' contest, round #188. Week's topic was 'Water' - and I should say, I have plenty!
There was a pair of starlings that stopped to have a drink from the pond. I also stopped by, attracted 1stly by the light.
The light was mesmerizing, with all this glittering of sun on the water surface, I wish I could make more captures before they left (I managed to do only 2 clicks; I approached closer - they departed).
These are from this May; I already shared a few pics from this set. Walking in the local park one day, I witnessed this scene with two coot ducks: female was sitting on the nest, almost finished, and her partner was busting around, diving into the water and getting more and more branches from the bottom to strengthen the family nest. D - devotion! D - diligence! P - perfectionism! :))))) Apparently, all the easily accessible and suitable branches for nesting had long been taken by other builders who wanted them, so getting branches - this was obvious to me - did not look like an easy task. Particularly there was a tear-squeezing scene when he tried to catch from the bottom an especially spriggy branch that had caught on other branches... and it was a no-go. I witnessed an unequal struggle and the efforts made ... was like a real fight! Unfortunately, the branch won.
On the next photo - the Great crested grebe cares of its hatch.
I want to round up my post with seagulls. This was a capture from a walk across the Zelenogorsk seaside - the closest site to the Baltic sea. So, this is how the seaside looks at my area...
A pair of seagulls - almost natural monochrome!
