It was another grey cold morning so I was dismissed(-:) Even though rain was promised I went out and drove up to Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve as the only other time I was there, it was covered with 2 inches of snow and there was next to nothing on the pools as they were frozen, but I managed some beautiful Goldcrest shots.
Got there and it was still not raining, though it looked like it had been so off I went. Along toi the first hide(Kingfisher Hide) but nothing doing there, Kingfishers obviously away(-:). As promised it started to drizzle so I moved on to the second hide overlooking a different pool. There was a Heron fishing.
There were also some Teal dabbling about and I was informed by one of the others in the hide that there was Green Winged Teal present. This is the only picture that I could get where the difference between the Eurasian teal on the Left and the Green Winged Teal on the right are readily apparent - unfortunately I couldn't get one with both there heads up, but that's not really relevant.
There were also a pair of Gadwall on the same pool.
As you can tell from the Gadwall picture, the drizzle had intensified to some quite heavy rain. I waited a while but it didn't let up so I set off for the next hide. From this hide there was a large collection of Black Headed Gulls visible .A Cormorant flew in
Obviously for some goalkeeper training.
A pair of Shoveler enjoying the rain.
A quick trip to the next hide provided a pair of Tufted Duck doing the same. I even saw a Kingfisher, but by the time I noticed it, it was off so I don't know whether it was a male or female. They obviously use the area as there were clearly several Kingfisher perches in close proximity to the hide. I waited around for a while but it didn't reappear.
Last but not least, a Moorhen also enjoying the wet!
These birds weren't bothered by the weather but it didn't let up so I called it a day. Still there were two successes - one was my first Green Winged Teal and the second was that I eventually got to wear my waterproof poncho, which did exactly what it said on the tin - went on very easily, covered all my gear including backpack with tripod whilst allowing easy access to the camer and bins when necessary.
Cheers,
Bob
Hi Bob
Congratulations on getting your first Green Winged Teal - I hadn't even heard of that one - shows how much I know!
It sounds as though you had a very good day despite the weather. I really like the photo of the heron with its wings outstretched and the shovelers - I've never managed to see any quite so close up.
Wonderful photos Bob, looks like a great place to visit.
That's another successful day then B_r_n albeit a trifle damp!!!
Green-winged Teal - nice looking bird. Is that a genuine vagrant from N America or an escape from a collection do you think?
Just been reading up on Green-winged Teal as I had never heard of it before & that second pic of yours shows it so well according to images on Google - nice to be educated B_r_n, what are we going to look at when your field trips are abruptly curtailed???
Unknown said:Is that a genuine vagrant from N America or an escape from a collection do you think?
Most Green Winged Teal showing up in the U.K. are thought to be genuine wild birds.Nice sighting.
Sounds promising Bob, so I'm expecting a photo of the Kingfisher at some stage then ? !! My Sis-in-Law lives near Rutland water so looks like hubby and I will have to pay her a visit soon ;) wouldn't mind a bit of Osprey spotting although that's a large stretch of water around 22 miles circuit so may have to borrow their cycle lol
I Googled the reserve because I hadn't heard of it before. Looks like a good place but it's a bit far for me unfortunately.