Green-winged Teal - Kenny's Pond

Time being a little more precious than usual, I wasn't able to get out for long periods of time yesterday.  I had to settle for two short trips, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

There are so many returning birds that I haven't seen yet this year. It was my hope to get a look at a couple yesterday.  Maybe my radar is a little off, but I couldn't see anything new.  I heard several birds and was able to recognize many of them by their song. Nevertheless, my preference is to actually see the bird.

As a last stop in my afternoon hunt, I went by Kenny's Pond to see if the wigeons were still there. No more....but I was delighted to see this beautiful male Green-winged Teal.

This was almost as good as a first of the year bird because I got the best views of this bird that I have ever had. I have seen lots of GWT at Kelly's Brook, but they were almost always scurrying away or under the cover of the trees.

Yesterday, this teal was out in the open, in the sunshine and quite comfortable with people. It stayed close and carried out business as usual.

Seeing this bird in good lighting for the first time was like seeing it for the first time. I had never really noticed the hood as seen in the above picture.

The iridescent green on the head changed shades every time the light struck it from a different angle.

Toward the end of my photo session, the teal hopped up on the rock as if to say, "Here get my best side."  It posed in every direction before sliding back into the water.

As there was no sign of a female with him, it will be interesting to see how long he stays. I found  very few ducks at Long Pond or Kent's Pond, but there were quite a few at Kenny's Pond. It always pays to check the small places as they tend to attract quite a variety of birds.