They say never go back but that is exactly what I did early yesterday morning. The Blue Winged Teal that first popped up last weekend has remained at Sandy Water Park ever since, and with better weather forecast I couldn’t resist an attempt at some improved photos. The Little Gull was my first spot upon arrival (still flying around like a maniac obviously) but it wasn’t long before I located the Teal feeding along the edge of the water in front of the Sandpiper pub. It appears to have become much more tolerant of people over its stay as a couple of photographers were right down on the bank getting some cracking views. Fancying a piece of the action I dropped down off the footpath and took a couple of shots before the bird moved away on one of its regular trips across the lake. Unfortunately the weather at this point was still overcast so the results weren’t a whole lot better than last time.

I went for a walk around the lake while I waited optimistically for the sun to appear and saw a very nice assortment of birds in the process (photos to follow in a coming post). Just as I got back to the start a break in the clouds coincided with the return of the Teal and I got what I was after.

24071 - Blue Winged Teal, Sandy Water Park, Llanelli
24068 - Blue Winged Teal, Sandy Water Park, Llanelli
24074 - Blue Winged Teal, Sandy Water Park, Llanelli

The views were exceptional with the bird seemingly oblivious to our presence and happy to feed just a few feet away from us. As can be seen from the middle photo it was favouring the wet mud along the shore and was really getting its beak stuck in. It will be interesting to see how long it sticks around for or even if it will become a resident celebrity.


3 Comments

J · March 27, 2011 at 1:30 pm

Nice shots, Adam. I would like to have gone down to see it, but got roped into watching England v. Wales in a pub. (At least we (England) won!)

Adam Tilt · March 28, 2011 at 12:49 pm

Thanks Jeremy. I missed the game unfortunately. Even in our current poor form I'd have been surprised if we had lost to Wales.

Hilke Breder · March 28, 2011 at 2:59 pm

Great pics, Adam! I am still waiting for the BWT to show up at my local pond – so far no luck.

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