Rare Duck! Near Where I Live ~ Shock Horror!

I SPOTTED THREE GADWALLS the other day. They are "quite uncommon" according to the bird book. They look like ordinary brown (female) mallard ducks, except they're smaller, have yellow bills, and dive a lot. That's how I first spotted them, by the diving.

This is what they look like. The nearer one is the male. I saw three females but they got really nervous with me crashing along the river bank and hiding near a wasps' nest. So they all took off and pinged away.

Today I saw a male and a female. They do look just like in the picture. Wow. I can't believe that I, of all people, actually saw a rare piece of wildlife ~ WOW!

This is a female. Notice she is more duck-shaped than a duck! (Ie a mallard.)

This is a female mallard. Notice the bright blue speculum (that's the coloured band on her wing).

I'm being really respectable these days. Have been writing a LOT. I might have to start up another blog ~ a "writer's blog".
Take care everyone :-)

Smith's Vole

Furry Friday on Saturday

Smith's Vole is the only type of vole native to Japan...

They have tiny little eyes...

They love nibbling things...

+ They're related to the common European water vole...

かわいいですね

That means AREN'T THEY CUTE!!

WISHING Y'ALL A V CHEERY WEEKEND

私はあなたにすべての陽気な週末をお祈りしております。

Pygmy Hedgehogs as Pets, Humungous Hedgehogs Wild...

LOOK HOW CUTE

these little guys are

they're African pygmy hedgehogs

~Atelerix albiventris~

they came originally from Algeria

+ these are fully grown!

Compare the size to the gigantic European hedgehog that most Brits will know from their gardens...

(which you can't let indoors, they're so flea-ridden)

A lot of people feed our wild hedgehogs...

Cat food is a particular favourite...

Look how enormous they are by comparison...

A nervous hedgehog will curl into a prickly ball...

Dogs will sniff around hedgehogs curiously...

But wouldn't dare try to eat one!

Cat + pygmy hedgehog

How exceedingly cute!

Aren't they the sweetest little things!

The Etruscan Shrew: Smallest Mammal in the World

FURRY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY

The Etruscan shrew Suncus etruscus; by weight it is the tiniest mammal in the world...

It is native to Southern Europe and parts of Asia including Burma...

This little guy is fully grown...!

Wishing y'all a fantabulous weekend!

Singing Mice of the American Forests...

Furry Friday on Saturday...

Deep in the jungles of Costa Rica and Panama, the Central American singing mouse Scotinomys teguina chirrups and chirps to avoid fights and confrontations with his neighbours...

Pygmy Shrews, Harvest Mice and Roborovski Hamsters: tiniest mammals in the world!

FURRY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY!

THE EURASIAN PYGMY SHREW

(Sorex minutus)

weighing in at just 4g

with a 2inch (52mm) body and 32mm (1¾inch) tail

is the tiniest mammal in Europe

and the second tiniest in the world

(after the African pygmy mouse)

In a hand: to scale:~

How tiny and cute!

It's actually slightly smaller than the exceedingly agile Eurasian harvest mouse (Micromys minutus)

Which is very tiny and cute too!

Also very little in comparison to the human hand:

And quite a lot smaller than the Mongolian pygmy hamster

(Phodopus roborovskii)

~ better known as the roborovski hammy,

which is the tiniest hammy in the world

and, at just 50mm/2inches no longer in the body

but which weighs an average 20-25g ~ 5-6 times more

How delightful! This one's a teenager:

 

Pygmy shrew on Youtube:

Roborovski hamsters in the wild

(Northern China):~

Yes, as my American friends like to say, they are indeed

"SO ADORABLE!"

(We in Britain tend to prefer "delightful" ~ and of course they're both!)

WISHING Y'ALL A VERY FURRY WEEKEND INDEED!

Fat, Furry Dormice for the Weekend...

I HAVEN'T BEEN BY LATELY because I've been too busy composing my work of Great Literature..! Which is not a memoir. And not about drugs in any way... (Wow!) It's a children's book. More details (if) and when it's finished...

✮✮✮✮✮✮✮

Anyway here's some little furry animals for Furry Friday on Saturday...

A fat dormouse...

(Latin name: Glis glis.)

... Also named the edible dormouse, as the Romans originally imported them to the British isles as a tasty rodent snack!

This one looks more like an American grey squirrel...

A common or hazel dormouse... isn't he cute!!

Latin name: Muscardinus avellanarius.

This is the only dormouse species indiginous to the UK...

... with big glittery black beady eyes!

And quite tame!

... when winter comes he gets very sleepy indeed!

(The name comes from the French dormir, to sleep... il dort...

... WISHING Y'ALL A VERY FURRY WEEKEND INDEED!

The Most Beautiful Birds in the World

    feathery friday on saturday   Who can name the most beautiful birds in the world? Well here are five good candidates...     SWANS a white mute swan and an Australian black swan  

EAGLES this is a Scottish golden eagle  

CONURES these are sun conures, some of the brightest parrots in the world  
  BLUE TITS favourite British garden birds  
  HUMMINGBIRDS
not sure of the specific species, but isn't it wonderful...     LAUGHING PARROT I think this is a green amazon...       wishing y'all a very chirpy weekend!

I Love Harvest Mice

FURRY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY

Wishing Y'all A Tiny, Furry Weekend...

Spiny Mice

FURRY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY

Real Mice... With Spines!

Wishing y'all a Spiny Weekend... But not too spiny...

Orange-Yellow Monkeys

          FURRY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY!   ORDINARILY I'm not a huge fan of monkeys; they're too humanoid to be cute... but aren't these yellow ones the furriest entertainers you've ever seen? Does anybody know what types they are? Because despite my best efforts at googling, I still haven't a clue what they're called...
 
  "Take a leaf outta my book..."  

  Real Monkeys of Orange County  
  "I want my Mummy!"  
  Monkey Correctional Centre: ~ "Lemme out!"  
  Designer primate:~ monkey feet in pollen orange by Manolo Blahnik; furry head by Philip Treacy; fur coat: Fendi     *******   FURRY ADOPTION: MOUSEY MONKEY; ORANGE BABY KITTY-CAT!  


WISHING Y'ALL A VERY FURRY WEEKEND INDEED!     *******