It has been a surprisingly quiet day in the garden with the male Blackcap the only notable sighting today. The Collared Dove was showing well and he was joined today by another, so presumably he has found his mate and she accompanied him on his favourite perch! As I have said before, we live very close to the RSPB Reserve at Exminster Marsh. The RSPB have done a great job recreating a habitat that is rare to the UK, a wetland pasture. This is perfect for over wintering ducks who dabble in the shallow ponds which are in fact partially flooded fields. Teal are very common there and at this time of year, just prior to their migration back north, they are very well marked and beautiful. It is surprisingly hard to get a good photo because they are constantly feeding and consequently have there heads stuck under the water most of the time.
Teal breed across northern Eurasia and mostly winter well south of its breeding range. However, in the milder climate of westernmost Europe the summer and winter ranges overlap. For example, in the United Kingdom a small summer population breeds, but far greater numbers of Siberian birds arrive in winter. Our Teal probably all speak Russian!
Another Teal photo and a photo of a Drake Shoveler here