Common Teal feeling Spring

On Tuesday March 8 I went for a lunch time walk to Mundy Pond.  The shallow lagoon at the back of pond held some teal as it usually does when there is open water. There were three drake Common Teal and five unidentifiable female Common/Green-winged teal.  The drakes were hyper active calling loudly and running around like sandpipers on the ice and shoreline.  The females were mostly feeding and trying to keep out of the way of the amorous drakes.

The females are considered impossible to separate with certainty but the Green-winged Teal average smaller and darker like the female on the left while the female Common Teal are paler brown with plainer less strongly marked faces like the two swimming with the drakes.

The teal took brief time out from sexual gaming to preen (above) and feed (below).

Above a drake puffs up his chest and (below) lets out a squealing peep sound in hopes of getting the attention of a female. 

The drakes were activity courting the females which sometimes including rapid swimming (above) or running (below) while leaning into the female.

By the end of my lunch break the teal went on break themselves resting from the early rush of spring fever. 

These two big pale faced females were likely Europeans.