Country diary: a powder puff of black feathers swirls down the stream

Hermitage Stream, Langstone, Hampshire: One agitated moorhen was corralling four skittish chicks on the far bank, while the other frantically zigzagged after a fifthAs we walked alongside the Hermitage Stream, we noticed a day-old moorhen chick bobbing upside down beneath the replica wooden mill wheel, its oversized feet splayed to the sky. Without a second thought, my father climbed over the railings and plunged into the water, scooping up the limp body. The chick appeared lifeless, but as he warmed it in his hands it began to stir and slowly raised its tiny bald head. Moorhens habitually kill their own chicks in order to whittle down a large brood, or in times of food shortage - drowning them by violently shaking them and pushing them underwater. There are six to eight eggs in an average clutch, but it's uncommon to see adults with that number of well-grown young - usually only two or three will survive to maturity. However, with no parents in sight, it seemed more likely that this chick had been snatched and dropped by a predator. Continue reading...