We were in Weymouth with none-birding friends at the weekend. Obviously there were sociable duties to attend to, so we couldn't spend all weekend birding, but from what I saw I'd be keen to get back at some stage. We escaped the caravan park for a couple of hours on Saturday morning for Radipole Lake RSPB. It was a complete surprise to come across c20 Bearded Tits pinging about, some of them showing cripplingly well on the stems and branches just above the reedbed. Also lots of Cetti's Warblers there.
Now, this is a bit tricky. This Hooded Merganser turned up in June and it seems there is actually a case for it being a genuine North American vagrant. It was unringed without any wing damage on arrival. It is very approachable and comes for bread, but then apparently that's normal behaviour for these birds in their native lands. The bird news services are reporting it as a genuine rarity. So what do we think? Innocent until proven plastic or is it best to assume plastic?
Anyway, plastic or not, there it was, a smashing looking bird and I enjoyed taking some photos of it in the crisp morning sunlight...
After this we didn't manage any further birding but I did take a few Gull pictures as we wandered round Weymouth with our friends. Max and I also had a visit to Monkey World on Sunday. I'm not really one for zoos, I must admit, but I am one for monkeys and Monkey World have done some fantastic work rescuing and caring for primates, many of them who have been abused and neglected overseas. We enjoyed watching the high jinks of the Chimps, Orang-Utans, Gibbons, Marmosets, Lemurs and various monkeys. The only bad thing about Monkey World was seeing a Chimp having a munch on its own poo!
So, apologies for the high plastic content of this weekend's entry, I'll be back to my old self next week, I'm sure.
6 comments:
Guess what I think abouth the Hooded Merganser?
You dare tick it !!!!!!
A picture of the poo eating Chimp would have been good.....
It's up to you what you tick, Kay. Personally, I would have been far more excited about the Bearded Tits. Great pictures.
Nah, I wouldn't tick it unless the record was accepted, which I suspect will be highly unlikely.
Lovely bird though, even if just for curiosity value.
The encounter with the Bearded Tits was indeed life affirming.
Primates and Hooded Merganser. You could've just gone to Twycross Zoo and JCB Lakes. No Bearded Tits though, great piccy there.
Don't tell the Blurred Birder, but I once twitched a Hooded Merganser and is on my list! A female in Notts in about 1996.
Notts had a run on Yank duck in the mid nineties, with also Bufflehead and Redhead. But not just in Notts, I also remember American Wigeon, and a possible female Barrow's Goldeneye in Tad Bay around that time.
Well lets hope Martyn hasn't subscribed for the follow up comments Richard, or he'll soon be finding out!
Beautiful series.. I loved the bearded tit, it is a wonderful bird... You have a very nice blog... I'll come back for sure...
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