During last month's WeBS walk, Luke and I found 2 "female type"
Teal. This morning we were down at Linacre again, to carry out this month's count, and one of the first birds we saw was a male
Teal. We managed to get quite close and got a decent photo. Later in the morning we found this same bird, and a female, together on the other side of the middle reservoir. We can't be sure, but it would be nice to think that this morning's birds were the same two as last month, and that the male bird has come out of eclipse plumage. This species is less than annual at Linacre, so hopefully, they'll stay around for the rest of the winter, and perhaps into 2019.
Teal (male)
Mandarin Duck numbers were still pretty good, with 88 seen (113 last month). Other birds seen were:
Tufted Duck (34),
Mallard (70),
Coot (4),
Moorhen (21, the
highest count of the year),
Grey Wagtail (2),
Pied Wagtail (1, the
first record of 2018),
Black-headed Gull (47) and
Cormorant (2).
Away from the water, there were at least 6
Redwings, 1
Mistle Thrush and several
Blackbirds feeding on a Hawthorn bush by the top reservoir, where we also had a
Raven fly over, and a confiding
Robin.
Robin
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