Last week, Jenny one of the staff at Mount Stewart
House and Gardens, Newtownards, Northern ireland who I had a meeting with, told
me about a white bird that some members had seen however no one had managed to
get a photograph of it for a definite ID so I set about trying to find it. After a couple of hours I did and these
are not perfect photographs of it as it was high in the canopy and very flighty
but good enough to ID it as a leucistic Chaffinch. I was thrilled as I had never seen one before
I then decided to have lunch at their very nice
restaurant and then the sun came out so I thought I would walk round the
beautiful lake. These photographs of
the restaurant were taken when I first arrived to meet Jenny, early that morning when no one else
was there.
I will be showing you more photographs of the lake and
gardens in later posts this week however today as I walked round I spied the 2
Mute Swans nesting and these are a series of photographs of them as well as a
video at the end. There were 5 eggs I
saw in the nest although on the video at the time I could only see four.
I am linking this post with WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.
Many thanks for visiting and also to those who leave comments.
That is white, very near albino.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful day. A never before seen bird AND beautiful nesting swans...
ReplyDeleteMarvellous! Isn't it beautiful. I've never seen one either x
ReplyDeleteAlways fascinating when nature turns out something a wee bit different, what a wonderful find and share for you Margaret. Hope the Swan eggs hatch and we will see little Signets soon~
ReplyDeleteWow, love the chaffinch sighting.. And the swans on the nest are so pretty.. Wonderful post, Margaret.. Have a happy day!
ReplyDeleteThis birds with aberrant plumage always get me overexcited! First for Australia, soon turns into a common duck with a white head! Oh well!
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
Congratulations on another first and a friend to let you know about it! Such a splendid post, Margaret. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteLovely post Margaret and some great photos :) Great chaffinch sighting and hope we get to see some cygnets soon :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful video and images!
ReplyDeleteA very nice place to wait out the sun. Beautiful moments in nature, thanks.
ReplyDeleteIncredible looking bird.
ReplyDeleteThe lake is beautiful. The Chaffinch is totally WHITE, what a find you made!!!! You should get some kind of birding award. What rare and beautiful pictures you got of the swan with her eggs!! I enjoyed the video too! I hope she has a male to bring her food.
ReplyDeleteAn albino Chaffinch, or close to it. And the Mute Swan having produced lovely eggs.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret. The Chaffinch looks to be almost a true albino and it is very unusual indeed. I rarely see any albinos lately and when i do they seem to be partly albino Blackbirds for some reason. Our wintering Pink-footed Geese geese seem prone to being leucisitic with usually one or two in the wintering flocks.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful you were able to get the photos of the Chaffinch! I think he was waiting for you!
DeleteYour video is wonderfully done. I like how she gets herself all "nested" in.
having a tough time loading your pics, again. congrats on the new sighting!
ReplyDeleteThe leucistic bird is very interesting - great that you could get photos of it. The swans on the nest are especially beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that finch was a great find! Beautiful swans, I enjoyed the video.
ReplyDeleteThat a pretty bird and I'm glad you got to snap it! I enjoyed the video of the swans and it was interesting to see mama swan pulling nesting material up over the eggs! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful images. I love both the birds and the restaurant pictures.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing experience, to see the swans with her eggs!!
ReplyDeleteThat chaffinch is so unusual and wonderful! What a great find! And the eggs in the swan nest! Awesome! Great shots!
ReplyDeleteThat Chaffinch is a really interesting bird. It would have had me scrambling for my books. Very unusual.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing find! Incredible you got such a good picture and were able to ID this one of a kind ( or almost anyway). The swans are pretty as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat uplifting video. I loved seeing the care and attention of the eggs from both Mum and Dad swan as you said "aren't animals wonderful?!" As are you, to have photographed and identified the chaffinch, you'd have been Miss Popular I reckon for that!
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling less tired soon.
Wren x
Gorgeous birds. I love the photos of the swan with the eggs.
ReplyDelete