A Blue-winged Teal at Fairlop Water

3rd October 2022

A Blue-winged Teal was discovered at Fairlop Water on the 28th September and has been showing well albeit fairly distant since then, so time to have a look. I knew the general area the bird was favouring but when I arrived on site I was lucky enough to meet a couple of birders who were just leaving and able to get detailed directions as to the current position of the bird.

When I got to the spot a quick scan of the island about 100 yards away revealed nothing immediately, but eventually I managed to find it fast asleep, well camouflaged on a couple of branches. Then it woke up and slipped into the water and started swimming to the left. What I hadn't realised was the reason it was moving its position was to get away from a canoe that was being paddled along close to the bank of the island. The canoe eventually drove it to the other side of the island out of sight

So from the moment I found it to the moment it disappeared from view was less than five minutes, so if I had arrived five minutes later I would have missed it. However, luckily I was clicking away during this five minutes and despite the long distance I did manage to get some record shots.

The yellow legs would indicate that this is an adult and no sign of any rings.

Mission accomplished!!!!!