Teal of the World

Yesterday was the birthday of my dear next door neighbour Joy, so in the evening we were all round her house for a cider & sandwich party. Guests of honour were our German friends Norbert and Marion who seem to be facinated by some of the goings on here inWeymouth. As usual the whole thing ended in a long sing song, mostly 60's & 70's, and a good time was had by all.

Not quite bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning all I had to do was sit on the coach to Heathrow Airport, so managed a bit of extra shut eye before flogging up on some of the creatures we may encounter in Madagascar. With some concern reguarding the protests in France, I was pleased to see that the flight toParis was both on schedule and on time, with the only reportable action being the Chilean Presedents flight taking off right outside of terminal 4, after his short visit to England.

The Chilean Presidential plane.

Our flight from Charles de Gaulle airport is at 10-35 local time tomorrow and we should arrive at the Madagascan capital Antananarivo at 21-00 also local. In the meantime I hope the readership will be content with a few more images from the archive, this time featuring those dinky little ducks the Teal.

Blue-winged Teal - Crooked Tree, Belize

Cape Teal - Strandfontain, South Africa

Chestnut Teal - NSW, Australia

Cinnamon Teal - Beaver Creek, Yukon

Green-winged Teal - Cape May, New Jersey, USA

Grey Teal - Alice Spring, Australia

Puna Teal - Alto Plano, Peru

Red-billed Teal - Maseru, Lesotho

Speckled Teal - Falkland Islands

PS

The 'spell check' has unfortunately crapped out so the spelling is goin to be worse than usual, if that is possible

Blame It On Costa Rica

On the day I leave for Madagascar, two things are on my mind. Firstly, will we ever make it with the situation as it is in France, as we fly to Tana, Madagascar via Paris where it now appears the situation, especially fuel, is becoming critical. Anyway, that's in the lap of the gods, or the French and unless I hear otherwise it's the 09-00 National Express to Heathrow.

Secondly, with the prospect of so much unique wildlife, and by definition photographs, I think back to when this digital business caught my imagination. Billy Burke and I were backpacking from Mexico City to Panama City, meeting up with Jim the Medic in Chetumul, Yucatan. Both were taking photos on the way, but after Jim had departed in Costa Rica Billy and I continued to the Monte Verdi rain forests. There we found a young bird guide who, after getting a severe telling off for being alcohol induced late, showed us the techniques of digi-scoping (taking photographs through a telescope). Below are some of the images we captured, and wap that was me hooked.

Bare-shinned Screech-Owl

Black-faced Solitaire (nicknamed the 'garden gate bird' in Costa Rica as it has a call like a wrought iron gate swinging in the wind).

Purple-throated Mountain Gem

Resplendent Quetzel

Scarlet Macaw

Three-wattled Bellbird

Coati

and finally, country number 102 join our ranks in the guise of Cameroon. My friend John Down has a daughter who is working in research out there and has joined our readership. Thank you for that Amy and hope both your trip is progressing well and that you might pass on the link to those you know in that and any other country.