Last Monday I went to Flamborough Head to see the Baikal
Teal that had been found there mid-morning. When the news came through of the
birds presence I was immediately excited, surely a fantastic candidate. On
arrival the bird was out on the bank but then went down to the pond and
proceeded to give excellent and enjoyable views. A superbly stunning duck, the
plumage was more striking and handsome than I had imagined it was going to be.
But what about its credentials? Well, that’s an interesting one.
Because I have seen it, of course it is wild! I have my reasons why I believe
it to be wild, so enjoy my waffle:
1) The
bird has turned up on the east coast.
2) The
bird is fully winged, regardless of damage.
3) The
bird turned up during a visible and clear duck movement.
4) Other
vagrant ducks were on the move, consider Lesser Scaup. Even though they are
from NA they were still moving along with other ducks.
5) Damage
is on both the primaries and the secondaries; it is not isolated to the
primaries. Why would a keeper of such an attractive species clip the
secondaries? Given that this is one of the most attractive aspects of the bird
you wouldn't expect these feathers to be clipped.
6) I
am reliably informed that wings are clipped in late summer after a ducks moult.
These feathers then do not regrow until the next moult.
7) The
damage therefore looks to me (personally) like it is more due damage from habitat or from a predator. I do not personally think this is down to the bird
attempting to be shot at, which has been suggested on a well known birding discussion site.
8) The bird was seen to fly in off the sea with a good carrier species (Wigeon).
The fact the secondaries look damaged is the clincher to my
mind that this bird cannot be written off as just a fence hopper, these
feathers just would not logically be clipped. It would make more sense that this
bird has received habitat or predatory damage to its primaries and secondaries.
Given all the other strong points I imagine this bird will be moved onto category
A soon.
(Baikal Teal - Andrew Kinghorn)
(Baikal Teal - Andrew Kinghorn)
Until next time, Foghorn out!
