Martyn Owen had spotted the probable juvenile Garganey from the main hide before it promptly vanished, heading for the North hide! I joined him there but it didn't reappear....
He had to leave so I waited another 30 mins or so before spotting the likely duck at the other end of the pool! I raced (well sort of) round to the main hide.....
No doubt about this one then, all the boxes were ticked. The head pattern with distinct eye stripe and pale loral patch, all grey bill and lack of pale patch on tail side...
It was surprisingly small however, clearly smaller than the female Teal present (here's a comparison shot)
That shouldn't be problem as the two species can overlap in size but I waited patiently for a post preen wing flap/stretch and wasn't to be disappointed :-) No green panel.....
It spent most of the time dozing on the dock laden island, often out of view but surprisingly came close on a couple of occasions!
More than makes up for the distant even more elusive January one
