A Nene nest update.
Just in time for Easter, here's a few special images to wet your appetite for spring!
BIC and BCU have come together to create one of the cutest couples of 2015. BIC's facial expressions of indignation coupled with BCU's mild mannered maternal behaviour has made them very photophenic; lucky me! BIC has been giving the nest away with his noncialant form of defence for weeks. Unlike other hissy or pecky birds, BIC just tends to swagger straight at you as if to say "nothing to see here, move on please!"
It was with great pleasure that I saw BCU's gosling for the first time, peeking out from under her wing. She is such a wonderful mother and I was really hoping that she could be be a parent in 2015. Her first experience came as a single mother after her partner left her during incubation for another nesting female. Despite the hardship (and the inevitable weight loss!) she successfully reared 3 goslings to adulthood in 2013. What a challenge!
Now that her current single gosling has made it to week of age we have scooped them up and put them on exhibit for you all to see. They are currently skulking about amongst the vegetation in the bowl pen which exhibits the Laysan duck on the loopway.
It is exceptionally important to keep young Nenes in the undergrowth in the early weeks so as to help them avoid potential predators. BCU knows the importance of this and is exceptionally good at using her natural camouflage in association with her surroundings. For the first week staff have been feeding them chick crumb close to the nest, but after a few days they were forced to come out in search of water. It is at this stage that they are particularly vulnerable as the edges of water are places frequented by everyone and everything. Staff made the decision to put them in an enclosed space for their security and our peace of mind. We can now guarantee this little family plentiful food and our watchful eyes.
An additional family can be found just round the corner from them. The intrepid BBZ and BAX have succeeded yet again in winning the Nene race. Just look at those strapping young birds! I've an epic tale to tell of BBZ and BAX, but that can wait for another post. I can't give away all my cute stories and photos at once!
Come on down to the loopway to see the rarest (and possibly cutest) geese in the world.
