Female goosander with brood of five The goosander has a five ducklings. Their chestnut heads are the colour of her crest and their flanks have similar white patches. She dives down into the water to feed, visible below its surface, teaching her ducklings how to fish the river. She heads upstream, where the river banks are lined with trees. High in one of them is the nest-hole from which her downy ducklings parachuted as she called them down to earth, to life on the river.
All goosander ducklings have the colours of their mother. As male birds mature their plumage will be distinctly different. Someone joins me on the riverbank -'' they move fast! ' he exclaims as the adult flashes through the water in pursuit of fish. Her ducklings speed after her, rising high, weightless and seeming to run on the surface of the water, keeping close. She calls to gather them about her. Goosander have an aura of the wild about them, from their secret nest high in a tree and their leap into the unknown to the wild waters they frequent. The Kent is a fast-flowing river, but today it is sluggish and in need of rain. The goosander family is fishing for sticklebacks and minnows behind Kendal Police Station so not exactly wild. I doubt the police have time to admire these beautiful sawbills, mandibles serrated to grip prey. I hear the river is full of smolt, juvenile salmon which a goosander would take. The males are splendid in their black and white plumage and the female deserves a close look, from that chestnut crest of fine feathers to the patterns of breast and mantle.
The Kent is a lovely river and we're lucky to have these resident goosander. There are families of mallard, of swans, dipper and grey wagtail. The River is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and information boards tell of its wildlife. But not everyone respects the creatures of the river. When the flow is sluggish and water-levels low it's disturbing to see the quantities of rubbish that have been thrown in.
On Monday, we watched house martins flying above the gardens of Levens Hall, gathering insects to feed their young. As the adult bird comes to rest beside its nest under the eaves its white rump stands out against the stone-work. Yesterday, no sign of house martins over the River Kent but today they are fly high above the river. In Thursday's rain swifts fed over the river and grey wagtail gathered insects over the water, to feed their young.
On 12th June 2017 I photographed a goosander swimming with her ducklings on her back but she was toward the further bank of the river. Dominic Couzens has superb images and an article that highlights the importance of our respecting the River Kent and its goosander habitat. Mature trees upstream of Kendal are essential to provide the tree- holes in which they nest. My video shows the female and her ducklings in hunting mode, diving, flashing fast through the water, searching the river bed for prey. Plastic clutter, bicycles, shopping trolleys and traffic cones chucked into the river become hazards to the goosander way of life.
On Monday, we watched house martins flying above the gardens of Levens Hall, gathering insects to feed their young. As the adult bird comes to rest beside its nest under the eaves its white rump stands out against the stone-work. Yesterday, no sign of house martins over the River Kent but today they are fly high above the river. In Thursday's rain swifts fed over the river and grey wagtail gathered insects over the water, to feed their young.
On 12th June 2017 I photographed a goosander swimming with her ducklings on her back but she was toward the further bank of the river. Dominic Couzens has superb images and an article that highlights the importance of our respecting the River Kent and its goosander habitat. Mature trees upstream of Kendal are essential to provide the tree- holes in which they nest. My video shows the female and her ducklings in hunting mode, diving, flashing fast through the water, searching the river bed for prey. Plastic clutter, bicycles, shopping trolleys and traffic cones chucked into the river become hazards to the goosander way of life.
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