Baikal Teal at Fen Drayton.
My destination yesterday morning was Fen Drayton in Cambridgeshire and my target bird was a stunning adult drake Baikal Teal which had been seen recently , i arrived in very good time , i then had to find the lake it was last seen on the previous day , sounds easy enough however there are 12 different lakes on this site , i eventually found Moore lake and it was not long until another birder picked out the Baikal Teal a sleep on a far bank , its white crescent on the flank was the stand out feature at this range.
Lovely plumage on the Baikal Teal.
The last 2 Baikal Teal's have been accepted so fingers crossed this one will be to, its unringed and has no wing abrasion , it never came close at any stage i was there .
There was also several Wigeon , Teal , Tufted Duck Pochard and Mallard , i also saw a Kingfisher very briefly as it flew through , this was a very welcome year tick.
Baikal Teal with an Avocet in the foreground .
The Baikal Teal eventually woke up and had a swim around and its fantastic plumage could be fully appreciated , it never came very close but great views were obtained through the scope , i watched this bird for a good couple of hours then decided to head back checking out various lakes as i went , several Goldeneye were seen plus a very smart male Scaup which was another welcome year tick as was 3 Egyptian Geese.
2 of the 3 Egyptian Geese yesterday.
There was plenty of bird song in the area with lots of Chiffchaff in full voice ,i then decided to head back to Kent and had time to call into Swale nature reserve on Sheppy , i didn't really add much from here other than a selection of waders ,Little Egret , Marsh Harrier and 3 Common Buzzards plus several Peacock butterflies .
Little Egret on Sheppy.
One of many Peacock butterflies.
