A funny old bird flies in
A strange bird has left visitors and residents mystified after it turned up at a local pond.
The bird has been the talk of Emsworth, where people have been trying to guess what it is and where it has come from.
And today The News can reveal its true identify – it's a Muscovy duck hybrid that has probably escaped from captivity.
Bird lovers had been flocking to catch a glimpse of the large, red-headed creature after it first appeared at Emsworth Mill Pond last week.
Families who had gone along to feed the swans and ducks were struck by the comical appearance of the bird – and one person even compared it to the long extinct dodo.
It was content to swim among the swans, and did not bat an eyelid when people came up close to photograph it.
John Blakeley, of North Street, Emsworth, noticed it as he went for an afternoon stroll around the Mill Pond.
The 52-year-old said: 'I'm a member of the RSPB, and as soon as I went home I looked it up in my book but could find absolutely nothing that even resembled it.
'It actually made me laugh because it was so comical. Really it reminded me of a dodo – that's the nearest thing I can compare it to.
'It was about the size of a very large turkey and seemed happy enough among the swans. 'As far as I could see it wasn't in any distress. It is probably the strangest bird I have ever seen.'
At first Mr Blakeley thought it may have got lost during migration and be thousands of miles off course, perhaps on its way to America.
But after some investigations by the RSPB the bird has been identified as a Muscovy duck.
Adrian Thomas, from the RSPB, said: 'This is definitely a domesticated fowl, I think probably the hybrid between a Muscovy duck and some other duck or goose.
'It will have escaped from a captive collection somewhere very close to where it has been found.'
Mr Blakeley added: 'It has certainly added a bit of variety to the Mill Pond, and has caused a lot of local interest.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: East
