The Moorhen is a common aquatic bird well known among British birders and urban parkgoers alike. There cannot be a park pond in the UK not populated by this loveable bird, with its cute, squeaky calls. However, if you live in Scotland outside of the south-east, depending on where you are located, it is a scarce resident to rare visitor. Moorhens are obvious and one of Britain’s most distinctive waterbirds; a colourful version of the dowdy and more brutish Coot. They tend to hug the reedy edges a lot and in some parts of their wider range, in the Baltics for example, they can be quite shy, skulking around within the reeds. I love pointing out the adult Moorhens to beginners, insisting that they look for the red garters at…
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Bird Watching (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025