There's been a couple of Baikal teal in the UK this winter, with the closest at Swine Moor near Berverley in East Yorkshire. I've been keeping my eye on this bird for a few weeks now and have contemplated going for it while I've been over that way surveying near Selby, but I always put it off for one reason or another. However, after a couple of weeks of poor weather, a decent forecast for today offered a good opportunity for me to catch up with the bird before my afternoon survey started.
Swine Moor is basically an area of flooded fields between the west side of the River Hull and the town of Beverley. It was a beautiful sunny day but there was a stiff breeze blowing and it was very chilly as I walked south for about 1km down the western bank of the river to where there was a large flock of ducks. The flock largely comprised of wigeon, teal and a few shoveler, but there were also a few waders including a small flock of dunlin and about 50 golden plover.
After about 20 minutes somebody picked out the Baikal teal but it was asleep. We watched it for quarter of an hour hoping that it would wake up and it did, but only because a peregrine came over low and put the whole flock up into a dense swirling mass of birds. The teal was of course now lost and we had to start the search for it again.
Eventually we found it and now it was more active, mainly preening but also swimming and once it flew a short distance. With a bird like this there's always the doubt that it might be an escape but it is with the correct carrier flock of wigeon so as long as it disappears before the end of May I can see no reason why it wouldn't get accepted. A really beautiful bird and well worth the effort. My third Baikal teal following birds at Crossens (2013) and Ouse Washes (2014), both of which were accepted.
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