On 14 December 2010 Shaun McCartney photographed a Village Weaver of the northern subspecies at Welgevonden Main Gate (-24.203333,27.900278). Shaun writes: "It was feeding with about a dozen of the local variety. We observed it for the length of 2 x Windhoek lagers and 1x Jamieson- It was late afternoon (between 17h30 and 19h00). I was in the company of Gerhard Lorist, an accomplished Birder, who noticed the difference between the two. The following day (and on subsequent days) Gerhard returned to try and photograph the bird but it was AWOL."

This record adds to the growing number of sightings of Ploceus cucullatus nigriceps. For more records with photos, see Raijmakers 2010 and Brooks 2010. To read more about the two races see here.

Photo: Village Weavers, northern race in front, SA race behind (S. McCartney)