March thread.
This post updated 01 June
MrsG returned on the 25th of March and was joined by Aran on the 29th.
(The beginning of the reunion video is a must-see for all fans of MrsG - I'm posting it today 01 June, to remind us of a happy time before the tragedies of May 2021.)
The month of May brought unrelenting wind, rain and corvids, as well as persistent intruder KS8 (among others) - and Aran somehow injured his right wing, rendering him unable to fish. Within a few days all the chicks had sickened and died. It could hardly have been more stressful for MrsG and Aran, but they are recovering together while the caring Glaslyn team is supplying fish each night.
(The chicks' bodies have been removed from the nest by Aran and MrsG, so we shall never know the cause of their deaths.)
In the right margin of this page are links to Glaslyn's posts documenting the misfortunes on the nest.
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All pictures and videos in this thread are (link to website)
©Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife
IMAGICAT
Birdies LG DU update.
Kind regards, Ann
23 November
Lots of waterfowl but not a lot snappable due to distance and faintness. The following are all attempts at silk purses out of sows' ears
How about this, tho, RICHARD?
Common Merganser, male:
And here he was with a couple of lady friends, all preening nonstop for Wales:
A shortie:
Richard B
Richard, Yes, but please may I add that 'most people' means 'most UK birders', possibly all! The 'Common Merganser' term is correct in the US, and as I expect you know, in the interest of good international relations wise birders use the local term when birding elsewhere than at home! I presume that Canadian birders use the US term but I do not actually know, and I have no idea what 'Mergansers' of any sort are called in the rest of their territory outside of the UK and US--sorry. Cornell's allaboutbrds site (for any readers who may not know, a US site) says: "Common Mergansers are sometimes called sawbills, fish ducks, or goosanders. The word “merganser” comes from the Latin and roughly translates to “plunging goose”—a good name for this very large and often submerged duck." Here's the link: www.allaboutbirds.org/.../ . There are two other Mergansers in North America, Hooded and Red-breasted. See: www.allaboutbirds.org/.../ and www.allaboutbirds.org/.../. The main page for Hooded Mergansers says, "The Hooded Merganser is the second-smallest of the six living species of mergansers (only the Smew of Eurasia is smaller) and is the only one restricted to North America." If you can believe Wikipedia, today it gives the others as Smew/White Merganser, Brazilian Merganser and the threatened Scaly-sided or Chinese Merganser. The Smew and Hooded Mergansers are currently not in the Genus Mergus because they are not as closely related to the other Mergansers as the other four Mergansers are to each other.
Edit: Sorry, Cirrus, I forgot to add that the Swan at Glaslyn is referred to by them as 'she', not he.
Unknown said:'most people' means 'most UK birders',
Quite so, GB,, and that's who I'm supposed to be addressing (CC makes allowances for us). I think RICHARD has told me about 3 times now, I'm hoping this is third time lucky and, with your informative research added, I think we have a chance
I've got nothing for today, despite MIKE's faithful attempt to alert me/us, except a comfirmatory Chat comment from Heather re the Widowed Swan:
26 November (one month to Boxing Day, yikes!)
It's been this kinda day - in unframed snaps:
The other end of the rainbow turned up later, unsquiggled by raindrops: