A drake Blue-winged Teal appeared at Douglas Water in Lanarkshire last Wednesday. Looks like it's the long staying bird at Mellon Charles near Ullapool relocating, since it disappeared about a week previously. A lot closer to home, so I decided to make the trip north today.
I departed mid-morning and arrived on site early afternoon. There were no birders in the area and it wasn't until I scanned Douglas Water with the 'scope, from the minor road above & to the west, that I picked up the drake Blue-winged Teal, which was loosely associating with five Teal in the middle of the small area of water. Views were constant whilst I was on site although a bit distant, but satisfactory. It was really difficult getting even a half decent photo with the distance, the blustery wind & the bird feeding quite a lot with its head below the surface.
