I was really looking forward to seeing my first Brent Goose in NPT. I found this bird on the track that runs along the West side of the reservoir. At first it appeared to be quite healthy but, after refusing to fly off and instead taking refuge in a heavily vegetated ditch it was clear all was not well. Unfortunately, by this time the moment for capture was lost. A quick call to RSPCA and it seems they do not respond if the animal in distress can no longer be seen, due to many wasted hours searching. It is likely this bird collided with one of the many cables in this area and there may be signs of this showing on the bird's neck. I'm hoping to look for this bird again today and hopefully I'll be able to report more promising news thereafter.
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| Goldeneys at Eglwys 13/3/11 |
Last weekend there were 57 Goldeneye all grouped together in the South-east corner while the yachting activities took place on the reservoir. The duck seem to be well used to this and it provides a good opportunity to see all the duck present concentrated in a small area and also at close range. Compared with last weekend, yesterday the duck numbers were lower with Goldeneye down to around 40 birds, only 2 drake Scaup and all but 1 Pochard have left.
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| Common Scoter from Aberavon Beach |
Baglan Bay was pretty quiet yesterday but, these Common Scoter, 4 of 5 and all drakes, were around briefly and feeding offshore
3 comments:
Interesting looking bill on the lone left bird or is it camera trickery. Has scope views ruled out "American". May be worth a second look in view of all the rare ducks appearing this weekend around the Burry and Carmarthen
I can see where you're coming from Martyn - hopefully Mark can check some more images and update us...
To give a quick answer now. I think it is camera trickery! The shots are cropped and sharpened and for some reason Common Scoter at this site always look to have extensive yellow bills. That said, I do have other shots of these birds which I will revisit sometime tomorrow. I have photos of Common Scoter from last year about this time that also show extensive yellow bills. My feeling at the time of the sighting was that not one drake stood out showing more yellow than the other.
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