The advantages of joining a local wildlife group are numerous; not least is having local experts to call on and also field trips to join. Yesterday I went to a reserve that was new to me - Wigan Flashes. Although we didn't see the bittern that has been seen there earlier in the week, we did see lots of water fowl and I learnt to distinguish a gadwall from all the other brownish female ducks.
Above L is a female gadwall, R is a male. Although not always visible, the white patch on the plumage helps gives distinguish a gadwall from other female ducks.Photo of Wigan Flashes copied from http://www.lancswt.org.uk/Our Reserves/wigan_flashes.htm
Photo of Gadwall used by kind permission of Dave Appleton www.gobirding.eu See link
5 comments:
yes, female ducks can be tricky, that's a good id mark for the gadwell
I love your blog's new colour scheme!
Thanks Sue. I had hoped to keep the black & red to match the colour of my book but when the link colours changed overnight no-one could see them against the dark background.
The new colour is growing on me - like an early spring!
I envy you such excursions. Reading yours, the next best thing. Thanks for that.
Thanks Dave - and please let me encourage you to get out there. It's a case of remembering and learning where to look - and of course there's always an element of luck.
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