Blue-winged Teal, 1cy male, 21 December 2012, Golf del Sur, Tenerife

During a family holiday on Tenerife I managed a few hours birding on 21 December 2012. As I only had a few hours before sunset I went straight to Golf del Sur on the south side of the island only 20 minutes drive from our hotel in Los Christianos.

The golf course itself was very quiet so I went down to the small pond to scan the assortment of wild and feral wildfowl. On the lake there was 1 Bar-headed Goose, 1 leucistic female Mandarin Duck, 10+ Muscovy Ducks and 37 Fulvous Whistling Ducks. Does anyone know if Fulvous Whistling Duck breed ferally on Tenerife?

There were also good numbers of Coot, Moorhen, Cattle & Little Egret. Genuine good wintering birds or vagrants on Tenerife included 1 male Mallard (or was it also introduced?), 3 Eurasian Teals and a nice 1cy male Blue-winged Teal.

Blue-winged Teal showing off its spectacular wing coverts

Note that even though faint is aready beginning to 'ghost' the white lateral rump patch indicating toghether with the male-like upperwing the sex

 A mix of wild and feral wildfowl plus a single Moorhen walking in the background

Does anyone know if Fulvous Whistling Duck breed ferally on Tenerife?

Leucistic female Mandarin Duck. What is the history of this?

Blåvinget And, 2.6.2012, Egå Engsø

Kort tid efter jeg havde fundet den Lille Skrigeørn ved Ebeltoft fik jeg en opringning fra Henning Lykke Larsen (HLL), der kunne berette, at en Blåvinget And han endelig var blevet fundet i Egå Engsø af Allan Janniche. Da jeg aldrig havde set arten tidligere i Danmark og det samtidig var i Østjylland, var beslutningen truffet på forhånd. Så Dina og jeg kørte blot igennem Feldballe på vejen hjem fra Ebeltoft og forlængede turen med et besøg ved engsøen, hvor gode venner og den blåvingede and var på plads.

Det er bestemt ikke hver dag det sker, at jeg finder en ny ædelart i form af skrigeørnen og så oven i købet i Østjylland, ser to nye arter på min Østjyllandsliste (nu 273) og en ny DK art. Der var en sagelig ro i familien om aftenen over et spil matador og hvor jeg havde tre huse på Rådhuspladsen…