Well, since yesterday was all about seeing “Red” at Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, figured it was only appropriate to add a companion post next. I have raved about the birding hotspot near Havana ever since Linda and I visited it for the first time many many years ago. We went down there because they had a Northern Shoveler spotted there and at the time I thought it was an extremely rare bird. Since then I have learned that it is a pretty common bird – at least here in the Midwest. Since then Emiquon has continually produced new birds like the Red-Breasted Merganser (see previous post, the Black-Necked Stilt, the Sora and a ton of shorebirds to name a few. This place is truly a gem for birders.
Today I bring you another fairly common inhabitant of the flooded lowlands.
That lovely creature is a male Blue-Winged Teal. You might have been fooled by the title since it is hard to actually see the “blue” element they are named for. They actually have what is referred to as a “slatey-blue” head. I find this feature is difficult to really notice unless the light is just right. What is easy to identify in the field is the thick white line between their bill and eye.
Hit the jump to see a little more of the Blue
