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Recent sightings

• 24 May 2012

  Neither mutant or ninja but unwelcome nevertheless...

  Exotic wildlife has abounded on The Weymouth Wetlands this week, befitting the welcome sunshine in which we contentedly bask. The Great Reed Warbler has understandably generated plenty of interest and - as Rob mentioned - he has been merrily singing in close-ish proximity to the new viewing facilities.

  Yet another wonderfully elegant, (& most appropriately named) Black-winged Stilt was spotted over Radipole this morning before heading leg-long to Lodmoor, where it too conveniently settled before the Viewing Shelter, offering tremendous views to the merry throng gathered within -  for once sheltering from the sun!

  

  Black Winged Stilt by our Luke.

  And this afternoon Radipole produced a third exotic which we are fairly sure didn't arrive by its own propulsion. A Red-eared Terrapin was handed in at the Discovery Centre (nee Visitor Centre) causing something of a stir. This is the first for quite a while but at one time we had quite a number in the aftermath of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles epidemic of the early 1990's. Terrapins became the pet of choice for fans of the epoch defining cartoon craze. Sadly many were subsequently released into the wild when the phase passed and it was realised that terrapins require diligent husbandry or out grew their tanks, (or perhaps when it was realised that despite rigorous encouragement they wouldn't talk, couldn’t Ninj and had more complicated dietary required than that provided by pizza...).

  

  Two pizza loving reformed Mutant Ninjas and our once more captive turtle. Piccie by our Chris.

  As per almost always, as an introduced species terrapins had negative consequences for our native wildlife - ducklings were reportedly a favoured seasonal snack - but this fella’s duck dining days are done - he has already been re-homed. Fran - a friend of Weymouth Wetlands who kindly nurses some of our sick, injured and orphaned wildlife to health has adopted him and were sure he'll live out a comfortable dotage in her care. So a happy ending for all concerned... could there be a cartoon in this tale... or a series..?

  Posted by Nick Quintrell

• 24 May 2012

  Big Brown Birds and lots of sunshine

  Well I've been lucky enough to have spent the last two days touring various groups round both Arne and Radipole in glorius sunshine and what a mad mix of species there was on show!

  I have to start off with the big brown noisy bird in the Radipole reeds - the Great Reed Warbler. For those of you like me, who knows very little about rare birds this chap is basically a regular reed warbler that has swallowed growth hormones. It is very big (blackbird sized) very noisy and to be honest it looks too big to be able to cling on a reed without it buckling. Rather convieniently the two best places to spot it from was the new semi circular boardwalk or the new jetty (I knew those new bits and bobs would come in handy!!) on the buddliea loop. But the noise at Radipole in general was brilliant, standing in the reeds you can't even hear a car over the mass of exploading cetti's warblers, chatting reed warblers and stuttering sedge warblers. There are a few lesser whitethroats popping around (the picture below looks a tad boring, I assure you they aren't!)

  

  For your best chance to see one of these chaps hang around the new kingfisher silver access gate.

  Yesterday I saw a few marsh harrier food passes right slap bang in front of the hide, I always think we forget how special it is to have these amazing raptors right in the middle of town, and to have such amazing views is almost unheard of.

  Plenty of kingfisher action, although the pair nesting next to the sand martin wall were washed out in the floods, they should be back, it will just take them a few weeks to get back to business. There were also 4 white stork seen flying over the reserve so goodness knows what they are doing!

  In other news i recommend the ham rolls in the centre! Delicious!

  Posted by Robert Farrington

• 2 May 2012

  I'm down here!

  We made a quick trip over to Lodmoor after work yesterday to check for, among other things, the presence of a cattle egret that had ben reported earlier. Disappointingly, it wasn't on view but it was a fine afternoon for scanning the marsh for anything of interest. Whimbrel and common terns put in a welcome appearance but the highlight for me was Nick's discovery of this common lizard basking in the late warmth of the sun, just a few yards from the viewing shelter. It had chosen a Diam bar wrapper as its temporary sun lounger (other vegetable oil-based confectionery wrappers are no doubt available on occasion in the vicinity), and allowed me to get close enough for a picture. It kindly stayed put for several minutes before deciding to crawl off casually into the grass. They can be very tolerant of the intrusion if you carefully creep close to get a better look but can be easily spooked by quick movements or if you get too near. If you wait a few minutes at a respectful distance it will creep back, check that danger has passed and take up its favourite position again.

  The encounter was particularly exciting for me as  (a) it is a lizard and lizards are fab, and (b) it is my first for the year. Also, records for this species at Lodmoor are meagre to say the least so this little gem was a very welcome sighting - let's hope it's not alone. 

  

  Posted by Chris

• 26 April 2012

  Coming soon

  Regular visitors to the reserve cannot fail to have noticed that the Visitor Centre has been closed for some time now, and you may be starting to wonder when it will be opening again. Just to give you some background, the RSPB decided sometime ago that the centre needed a refurbishment, to make the building more welcoming and user friendly. So it is reverting back to what it always used to be, namely an information centre for visitors to the Weymouth Wetlands, but there’s more. It will also have a small coffee shop serving locally sourced refreshments, and there will be an exciting new addition to the reserve along the Buddleia Loop.

  The centre closed in mid January with the builders, Webb and Ford, moving in about a month later. Incidentally they are the same local company that originally built the centre all those years ago. There have unfortunately been a few hold ups along the way, which whilst frustrating have been unavoidable. The old electrical wiring in the building was shocking, no pun intended, and this had to be sorted out first. As already mentioned the centre will house a coffee shop with an array of touch screens showing video and live footage of the reserves wildlife, as well as brand new information boards, full size reserve maps and customer toilets with baby changing facilities. Free Wi-Fi access will also be available so you can surf the web whilst enjoying a cake! Why not spread the world that it will be a great place to come for a “working lunch” with a far better view than Starbucks. There will be new seating both inside and out. The patio is being fenced off to make it more comfortable, as well as cutting out the view of the car-park. It will also make the pond dipping area a bit safer. Other new features will include full length blackboards detailing up-coming events as well as reserve sightings and impromptu art work.

  But what about the shop I hear some of you ask. Well customers will now be able to order all of the goods in the RSPB catalogue directly through us, either by phone or at the centre, with collection from the centre the following week. This will save you the P&P charge and also enable more funds to be used directly at Radipole. We will be holding regular optics weekends as we have done in the past, where you can try out RSPB and Viking binoculars without obligation. The dates of these events are in the “Whats On” page on our website, and in the events leaflet available from the Visitor Centre, Tourist Information etc. 

  Finally out on the reserve the new Family Trail is another exciting addition to the reserve, and complements the duck-feeding and pond dipping platforms which are already in place. It is being put in place along the Buddleia Loop right NOW, and will include new boardwalk trails, and raised viewing platforms to give a birds eye view of otherwise hidden areas of the reedbed. There will also be a new storytelling/picnic area with wildlife themed wooden seating. I have included some photos of these benches under construction just to whet your appetites for what is to come.

  All in all its an ambitious project, but we are close to completion and we will soon be opening the centre and trail to the public. Bear with us folks, it won’t be long now.              

  Posted by cubby

• 5 April 2012

  Check out this cutie!!

  Naomi - our most esteemed and knowledgeable plant recorder, (AKA Angelica in blog-land), was treated to amazing views of one of our most common mammals whilst out botanizing last week. The wood mouse is largely nocturnal and not normally so cocksure as to provide fellow mammalians with such prime photo opportunities as this.

  

   

  

  The confident mouse was apt reward for Naomi for her sterling work painstakingly finding and logging the great diversity of plant life the reserves boast and advising us on how best to manage the the reserves for its rarest and most precious flora. I have been fortunate enough to encounter unnaturally bold mini-mammals twice in my years on Weymouth Wetlands. The first was a water shrew, which was so engrossed in gorging on a grub that it was utterly oblivious to my camera phone and me. The second was young water vole that was equally unconcerned - to the point that if it avoided becoming lunch that day I'd be nothing short of flabbergasted. 

  Currently, there is a bold water vole near to Radipole's 'locked gate bridge' offering excellent prolonged views. Always worth a look and listen and you may just be treated - but if not there will surely be something around the next corner to compensate!

  Happy Easter to y'all.

  Posted by Nick Quintrell

• 27 March 2012

  It's not grim up North Hide.

  North Hide on Radipole has provided some pretty amazing birds over the past few weeks and there is virtually always something of note to hold one's attention. The much publicised glossy ibises seem settled into Radipole life and North Pool is a favoured haunt allowing the capture of images such as Luke's beauty below.

  

  The kingfisher pair seemed to get a bit carried away with some unseasonably warm days in February and allowed Spring Fever to take a temporary hold. Now on the cusp of April and in glorious sunshine everything is progressing as expected with fish passes a regular event to seal their bond.

  

  

  The marsh harriers, (seemingly the same pair that bred last year) are also regularly in close proximity to the hide and can make for spectacular viewing - although not always from the point of view of our wildfowl. And, on the subject of wildfowl, Sunday saw our first Garganey of the spring mingling close to the still 40 strong raft of teal.

  

  Garganey are a summer visitor to the British Isles having migrated from Africa which is unique among British ducks. We are fairly confident that they have bred on the reserves in recent years - courtship and mating has been witnessed on many occasions - but this has never been proven. One of the reasons for this could be that having mated the strikingly marked male usually clears off and the female retreats into the darkest, knotted recesses of dense wet vegetation and remains there until the young have fledged.

  There is a water rail territory established in 'The Deeps' to the left of the hide and the squealing call and response now firmly a part of the background noise.

  

  Mike Richards (rspb-images.com)

  Added to all this there is stone chat, Cetti's and reed bunting territories all in close proximity to the hide so colour and vibrancy at every turn and never a dull moment... Guaranteed!!!   

  

  Posted by Nick Quintrell

• 21 March 2012

  Our first Cuckoo of Spring...

  ... Well first cuckoo flower anyway!

  Returning from the North Hide this evening, the eagle-eyed Emblem-English, (or Chris to his many friends) made a welcome botanical discovery in the delicate shape of our very first cuckoo flower. I am sure that we all have certain things, particular to ourselves, which we most look forward to reacquainting ourselves with at this time of re-growth, regeneration, awakening and migration - and the first cuckoo flower is always, for me, a little bit special.

  

  Cuckoo Flower, (also known as Lady’s Smock) is a still a fairly common herb with a large native range extending across Europe and into Asia. It is a lover of moist conditions as befits a relative of watercress with which it also shares the familiar bitter taste. Also, like its relative it provides a rich source of vitamin C, but more importantly it is the main food plant of the Orange Tip butterfly which time their single annual hatch to coincide with its flowering - so that is another harbinger of spring to keep an eye out for in coming weeks.

  By flowering early it avoids competition with other much larger moisture loving plants, such as hemlock-water dropwort, willow herb or hemp agrimony to name but three. In medieval times it was believed that the plant was sacred to fairies and it was considered an ill omen to bring the flowers indoors. One might have thought that in medieval Britain there were more pressing daily concerns than fear of evoking ire in fairies, but at least they left the cuckoo flower to prosper and long may they continue to do so.

   

  Posted by Nick Quintrell

• 17 March 2012

  A Skulking LBJ (...with occasional exhibitionist tendencies).

  One of the signature birds of the Weymouth Wetlands is the Cetti’s warbler – a ‘little brown job’ with an ‘often heard seldom seen’ reputation for leading birders on a merry song and dance. Frequenting dense undergrowth into which their subtle plumage cannily blends, their presence is most often betrayed by their unmistakable detonation of song which is heard throughout the year, but most emphatically at this time.

  If you don’t know what to listen out for the comprehensive ‘Birds of the Western Palearctic’ describes their song as “TCHItchitchirititchitchirtitchi” but, if that makes you go cross-eyed, just listen out for the short noisy staccato refrain and dollar for a dime there’ll be a Cetti’s at the end of it.

  

  A Radipole Cetti's (sorry can't find a photo credit...)

  Radipole and Lodmoor both provide plenty of dense, varied vegetation adjacent to water (aquatic invertebrates are a favoured food) which is the habitat favoured by Cetti’s. In recent years we were recording up to eighty Cetti’s territories in springtime, although the recent cold winters have seen these figures contract by at least one third.

  Notwithstanding the recent drop in numbers, the Cetti’s success on both reserves is fairly remarkable.  The species was first recorded in the UK in the 1960’s and there wasn’t a confirmed breeding until 1973. Radipole hosted the first Dorset breeding pair also in the 70’s and has become a nationwide hotspot over the intervening decades – which may be because, (in spite of the references above to their skulking nature) the Cetti’s on Radipole and Lodmoor can actually be quite confiding. Perhaps this could be a result of much of their favoured habitat lying adjacent to our paths, thus making lumbering bipeds a familiar and mostly benign presence to them.

  Now is as good a time as any to see them, as the biological necessities of the season further emboldens them and there are still very few leaves on the thorns and brambles to obscure them from our gaze. You may even find that rumours of their reserve have been greatly exaggerated!

  Posted by Nick Quintrell

• 9 March 2012

  Moorhen more to like each time...

  With all the exotic and rare birds we have had knocking about of late it struck me that we have neglected to acknowledge the common - but often no less attractive or appealing - fare that are the reserve's bread and butter. The humble moorhen is just one such example.

  Since my early days as a feeder of Swanpool Lake's waterfowl en route to my nursery school in Falmouth, moorhens have been a familiar sight.  It is said that familiarity can breed contempt but this was never the case between the moorhen and me, however they (and their common or garden contemporaries) did begin to fade into the scenery as more noteworthy birds entered the slowly expanding consciousness.

  

  I can distinctly recall my reawakening to the charm and comedy of these humble little fowl and have ever since held them in the very highest regard. A few years ago Damon and I (respectively), were excavating the old paths to Radipole’s fishing swims and taking the rubble to the Orchid Meadow to create a new vehicular access path. One particular moorhen, (I was convinced it was the self same bird every time) was taking advantage of the feeding opportunities availed by the excavation procedure and was a constant companion throughout the days it took us to load and move these structures. Each time the dumper was laden and I was gearing up to dump-truck the rubble and slop, I would have to check to see the wheels were clear of our opportunistic chum.

  Many were the times I would rumble off down the path guided by the moorhens red beacon-like head and hilarious, massive-footed lope. Eventually having repeatedly checked left and right he would reluctantly fly off to one side, but each time upon my return, he was back in situ pecking at the disturbed ground beside Damon’s digger and the process would begin anew.

  Before this time I had never appreciated how unusually comical the moorhen was, but there is more to them than a comedy shuffle. They have been observed displaying signs of intelligence and even tool use – not unlike the birdie brainiacs of the corvid clan. Scientists studying them have witnessed an incubating moorhen use a sheet of polythene as a cape during heavy rain to protect her and her un-hatched chicks and then remove it when the rain abated.

  What is more it is the usually the female moorhen that fights for the right to mate with the male, putting them way ahead of humankind in the inter-gender wars. Over any given spring she will fight with more and moorhens... whether or not that is a good thing however, I am not equipped to comment, but what I will say is that humble, bumbling moorhen is too often overlooked and - to my shame - I was guilty of this until I recaptured the light!

  

  Both pictures Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)

  Posted by Nick Quintrell