Monday, 1 February 2016

Green-winged Teal...

This cracking drake was found by Phil Abbot back before Christmas but it's been an elusive bird to say the least. I don't know how many times I tried for it (to no avail) and it disappeared somewhere along the Axe valley floods for several weeks before resurfacing again at the weekend on Black Hole Marsh near Seaton. It's certainly a well-marked drake and can be seen from some distance with the naked eye. Dave Helliar saw it on Saturday and got some great photos:

Green-winged Teal: Dave Helliar
Green-winged Teal: Dave Helliar
Green-winged Teal: Dave Helliar
I couldn't get there on Saturday and by Sunday it had vanished once again only to be seen again by the original finder later in the afternoon back on Seaton marshes. So, when news came out that it was back on Black Hole Marsh late morning, I dropped everything and went for it. To my relief it was still there and showing well. It was even displaying and calling - Spring is definitely in the air!

Green-winged Teal: R. Harris
Green-winged Teal: R. Harris
Green-winged Teal: R. Harris
Green-winged Teal: R. Harris
Green-winged Teal with drake European Teal: R. Harris
...and the obligatory video. Best watched by changing the settings to full HD if viewing on YouTube. Sorry for the lack of sound but it was breezy so I decided to cut the soundtrack out altogether:

Green-winged Teal: R. Harris

No comments:

Post a Comment