| Blue-Winged Teal | April 24, 2008 |
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In the four years that I've been wandering the Toftrees game land, I first came across a blue-winged teal a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps I saw it earlier but the teal was too far away for clear identification. No doubt about it now.
Anyway, my candidate as a new name for the blue-winged teal is the polka-dot duck. Really. Look at all the polka dots below. |
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Maybe Mrs. Blue-Winged Teal doesn't have any fancy polka dots, but a fact like that never stopped bird namers before.
Two days later, in the company of another birder, we came across two pairs of blue-winged teals that were somewhat more out in the open. |
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The teals became nervous as we approached closer and flew. And then for the first time, I saw that there was a good reason for the duck's name. |
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Blue-winged teal is okay.
Photo note: I used a Pentax *ist D, with the SMC 1000mm reflex lens in the middle of April 2008 for these photos. |