A call from Dr Ray alerted me to the arrival of a pair of Garganeys at Restharrow Scrape this afternoon. When I arrived in the fading light, they were close to the hide, and should have given some good pictures.
Unfortunately, they were busy feeding so their heads were in the water most of the time.
I was hoping that the male would quack, as it's a strange sound, a cross between a dog's bark and a frog's croak. In the event, we were not entertained.
Garganeys are the only British summer visitor duck, wintering south of the Sahara.There were 24 reports of Gargany sightings on Birdguides today, of which four were from Kent - Dungeness (10 flying past), Grove, Oare and here at Restharrow. In 2006, a pair was here on 19th April.
Earlier, a female Siskin arrived to finish off the last peanuts of the winter........
....and a Linnet sang from a budding Ash tree.
6 comments:
With their heads in the water or out, they are good pictures! What a lovely looking duck.
My favourite ducks! Nice pictures
Really beautiful! I've never heard of a Garganey before. They are such pretty birds.
Those ducks are beautiful...such elegant colors. It's interesting for me to see the siskins eating peanuts. The pine siskins we get here only like sunflower seeds and nyjer thistle.
What amazing loooking ducks, especially the male. I really like ducks and I'm always amazed at all the various patterns they keep coming up with!
There's something about Garganey isn't there? The fact that they're the only duck that visit us for the summer, their scarcity, their subtle colourings and patterns and the fact that they tend to appear in twos and threes.
Great birds, particularly when they're close to home.
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