I was hoping for better images of the mysterious aberrant 'Teal' after a no show the previous day. My luck was certainly in with the Teal showing really well early afternoon...
A touch Leucistic on the breast (that was the first assumption)! The overall 'brown wash' to most of the underparts is the most dramatic aberration.
I'm indebted to the birder behind @BirdHybrids for all his help for finally putting the mystery to rest.
He asked another hybrid expert Jorn Lehmhus for advice... This is a 'sarcelle a bavette' literally translated as 'Teal with a bib'. A breed that started with crossing male Eurasian, Green-winged or Yellow-billed Teal with female black Call ducks - the offspring seemingly then crossed among themselves!
Many of these crosses have little evidence of of Teal ancestry but here is an example of domestic Mallard crossed with Teal...
If this duck was crossed again with a Teal, he considers you would end up with a duck very similar to the Venus Pool bird!
Huge thanks to Jorn Lehmhus, @BirdHybrids and @ed_keeble who also contributed to solving the puzzle...
