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An American duck on the flashes
Wigan's incredible gift for attracting unusual wildlife has come up trumps again.
A bumper winter for the Wigan Flashes nature reserve has continued their amazing winter with a sighting of the American green-winged teal.
The drake has deviated thousands of miles away from his natural habitat to visit his European cousins, which are a much more common sight in Wigan.
They are nesting in the reedbeds, which have recently been improved as part of the Greenheart Project in partnership with Wigan Council.
Large numbers of birdwatchers are expected to descend on the beauty spot just south of the town centre to see this US interloper.
Experts say the small duck will have been blown across the Atlantic in some high winds and is looking for a suitable place to shelter from the winter weather. The recent habitat improvements have allowed the teal plenty of feeding opportunities and sheltering areas within the reedbeds.
The green-winged teal is distinguished by a vertical white stripe on the side of the breast and the lack of yellow on the head. It is only within the last five years that it has been recognised by the world's ornithologists that the American version is a separate species to that found within Europe.
Although this is the first time a green-winged teal has been recorded in Wigan a few are seen in the duck flocks every winter in Britain.
On the National Wildfowl Count at the Wigan Flashes this month, along with the green-winged teal, a bittern, the Cettis warbler and four rare mealy redpolls were seen.
The latter were in a flock of small finches feeding on alder seeds, and the flock contained more than 100 siskins, which are small, green coloured finches with a black cap, this is the largest numbers seen on the site in a single flock in the last ten years.
Mark Champion, the site manager, said: " This winter has been exceptional in the number of rare and unusual birds seen. A genuine, rare American duck is the icing on the cake!
"It shows that we are now becoming one of the most important localities for watching birds, and that all our work on developing the wetland habitats is paying off.
"The improved path network is allowing our visitors to get around the site and enjoy their visit. I have not had many bird watching days as good as this in my life.
" I do not know what I may see next!"
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Weather for Wigan
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
