On a recent visit to see family in Weymouth, we had a lovely walk through Lodmoor Nature Reserve, which is on the outskirts of Weymouth itself. It was a lovely walk through with good, solid paths to walk or push a buggy along, and we saw and heard lots of birds.
We mainly saw ducks (Mallards), Coots, Canada Geese, Crows, Black-headed Gulls and heard lots of Warblers amongst the bushes although we weren’t able to spot any of those which was a shame. But the best of all was a little Dunnock that popped out of the hedges whilst we were feeding the ducks. It was very close to us, scratching around on the path and didn’t seem very afraid of us at all. This was the first time I had seen a Dunnock (well…the first time I knew that the bird was a Dunnock) and was amazed at how similar it looked to a Sparrow. The only differences (that I could see) were that it was a bit smaller and had different markings on its back. I have an App on my phone that plays certain bird calls and songs, so out of interest, I played the call of a Dunnock and the little bird stopped and cocked its head to listen. It then flew up into a branch which was very close to us and listened there for a long time. It was there, and still, long enough for me to take a photo using my normal digital camera. If my camera had a decent zoom, it would have been a great photograph! After spending a while enjoying watching it, we moved on through the reserve and to the adjoining park area.
I would recommend anyone to go for a walk there as we only went along one side of the reserve. There were other paths to walk along which would take you all around the area and there would probably be lots more birds to hear and sing around the place. Added to that, it is right next to the sea and a lovely park with a few attractions such as a Train and Crazy Golf.
Here is a photo of a Dunnock from the RSPB website.
Here is the photo I took.
