A short morning visit to Chard Reservoir after reports of a Ring-necked Duck
Weather: bright to start, cloudy later, light winds, temp 5C
Chard Reservoir is some 15 miles from my home so it took just 20 minutes to get there. Surrounded on three sides by woodland the small reservoir attracts a good variety of birds.
view from the hide at the reservoir
I walked from the car park through the woods to the only hide which is perfectly situated on a pier-like structure. I soon listed several species, most were ducks. Seven species of duck were found, Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal and Tufted Duck made up the common species and a single female Goldeneye was the unusual find.
some of the 9 Little Egrets, they are now sprouting their breeding plumage
Other species found during my 1 hour visit included; Little Egret (9), Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Coot and a few common woodland species. Alas the rare Ring-necked Duck was nowhere to be seen neither were the 8 Tufted Ducks that it was associating with, I saw one single, male Tufted Duck.
male Eurasian Teal