Wednesday, 14 April 2010

Barnes WWT (Part 3)

The final post from my recent visit to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Barnes. The first two species will be well known to Chris in Iceland as he is fortunate to photograph these ducks in the true wild. [Please click any pics to enlarge].
Long-Tailed Duck
Very distinctive when seen riding the waves at sea but from above you can appreciate the upper wing pattern colours more clearly. This duck has a complex moult process that produces at least three different plumages annually.
Common Eider
Male changing from eclipse to adult plumage.
Female Eider (Carrying her own rod on her back!)
A splashing exotic Teal (Sorry species not recorded). 

Finally the "Intrepid Birder" (Constructed from car parts)......FAB.

16 comments:

  1. Magic images Frank,love them all.
    Fab.
    John.

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  2. Love the sculpture its very good! Long Tailed Duck is lovely, fantastic colours.

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  3. Such nice photos. Especially the Intrepid Birder! LOL

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  4. The upper wing of long-tailed duck is quite special. And the Intrepid birder is : well it is a sight.

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  5. JRandSue. Cheers John.

    Sharon, Mona & Bob B. All the sculptures were popular with the visitors but that one says it all.

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  6. Love the little guy fluffing his feathers but love the Intrepid Birder even more. Carol

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  7. The sculpture is great! and of course, your photos are as well. Long tailed ducks are right up there on the favourite list.

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  8. All are delightful yet the female Eider carring her own rod is a gem Frank...good go~ BTW, on my main page of blog...your other blog still shows only a red x in a white box. Yours is the only blog doing that..just began last two entries. Just wanted to let you know~

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  9. Wonderful photos of the Eider and the Long Tailed. The Intrepid Birder is cool.

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  10. Really nice shots!! Love the tin man sculpture! The teals look like Blue-winged T's - I saw some today, that were migrating through, and took photos. (Check my blog post from today)

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  11. Hi Frank,
    What you got a long-tailed duck ;-) How come.... It is almost in Breeding plumage! Wonderful shots of it. I'm happy you got to see it, but if you want to see more, I'll be happy to show you the Icelandic wilderness ;-)
    Beautiful eiders pictures too!
    For the last picture, i think it is a blue-winged teal...
    Oh by the way, what do you mean by in the wild? Are these coming from a park?
    Thanks for the reference to my blog, this is highly appreciated ;-)

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  12. Well its nice to be able to photograph them anyway Frank.

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  13. We get the first two also! The Common Eider and the Long-tailed" Alas, I haven't seen a Blue-winged Teal in a long time.

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  14. Carol M. The Intrepid Birder seems to be very popular...I wonder why!

    Susan. Thanks. I agree that LTDuck is special.

    Mary HC. Anita has just told me that after I took the female Eider shot the rod fell off! Thanks for pointing out the FABirding glitch; hope to sort out very soon.

    Eileen. Thank you. It's much easier when the subjects are cooperative.

    Hilke. Thank for the help on the ID. Your post certainly helped. Cheers..FAB

    Chris. THE LTDuck was in a wildfowl collection. BTW I'd love to see more, especially in Iceland but that may be a while.

    Roy. Cheers.

    Steve B. Sorry I should have mentioned your blog in the post as well...sorry. I haven't seen a wild Blue-winged Teal since a 2003 visit to the US.

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  15. Carol, Susan, Mary, Eileen and Hilke. Please accept my appology for not responding earlier to all your kind comments....a glitch at this end and hopefully now resolved.
    As expected the 'Intrepid Birder' was very popular. Thanks FAB.

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  16. Exotic teal is Blue-winged Teal, a common North American species.

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

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