On my day off last week I decided to visit the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) reserve called Radipole Lake. It's situated in the middle of Weymouth and is filled with reed beds - perfect for some pretty rare birds. I got to see some mute swans, coots, moorhens (all three with chicks), a rather chatty reed warbler and a cetti's warbler. I also saw a mallard, a great tit, a grey heron,a house sparrow, and my favourite overall: a great crested grebe (see picture at left)! It's such a pretty bird and I was so happy to capture it on my camera . . . even though the picture isn't that great by wildlife standards. I also, narrowly missed seeing a bearded tit, an incredibly photogenic bird that is practically the emblem of radipole lake. Hopefully, I will be able to see it before I leave here as I really want to!In other wildlife news . . . I saw my first wild badger two nights ago! A few of us from work went to Lorton Meadows Nature Reserve with the intention of staking out a badger sett to try and see if we could spot one. After sitting on the ground for about an hour, I was starting to get a little cold and a little tired, when suddenly I could hear something running around behind me. I turned, and not even 3 ft away was a baby badger! It scared me half to death, as I was not expecting anything to be that close . . . and then it just turned and ran away. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my "close encounter" with a real live badger. Oh, and we also saw a roe deer . . . well, at least we think it was a roe deer (it was pretty far away!).
Yes, I am turning into a wildlife geek!
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