Conder Green

Common teal

I was feeling the need to give the knee a bit of a workout so I decided to have a go at finding the green-winged teal that's been hanging round Conder Green the past few weeks. It's a new site for me to visit, too, so even if I didn't catch the teal I'll have had a bit of an adventure.

I got myself an old man's explorer ticket and got the train to Lancaster. Now the leaves are off the leaves I can see how many dozens of woodpigeons I've been missing on Chat Moss.

I got the 89 bus from Lancaster. Google Maps said to stay on the bus as it goes through Glasson Dock and get off at Jeremy Lane then walk down the canal to the pond at the  Conder Green. It turns out that to actually see the pond you have to walk down to The Mill at Conder Green, then up the lane to the junction at Conder Bridge where the bus would have dropped me forty minutes earlier. It's then twenty yards' walk to the hide overlooking the pond. I can't say I was very cross about it, the weather was OK though grey, it was a good walk along an only slightly muddy path and the birdwatching was very productive 

The A588 going over the Lancaster Canal

I walked down School Lane and dropped down to the canal towpath at the bridge. There were a dozen coots with a few tufted ducks here. Walking under the bridge I disturbed a herd of a dozen mute swans which grunted at me the then swam over to feed on the opposite field. A couple of pied wagtails had beaten them to it. There were a few pairs of mallards feeding in the reeds by the far bank.

A couple of fields away a few dozen curlews were feeding with black-headed gulls and black-tailed godwits that I could hear but not see. A flock of twenty godwits flew in, didn't settle and flew back whence they came. Closer in a covey of five red-legged partridges were studiously pretending I wasn't there while a couple of herons were black affronted at my arrival.

Tree sparrow

The hedgerows along the canal path were heaving with blackbirds, robins and tree sparrows. As I got to The Mill a couple of dozen meadow pipits flew into the trees by the car park.

Conder Bridge

I walked down to Conder Bridge accompanied by the meadow pipits and yet more blackbirds and robins.

Walking down the road past Conder Bridge I tried not to upset the ducks but it was very difficult given the verge of the road was on the riverbank. The mallards just made rude noises, a flock of about thirty teal took flight and landed out of sight in the bend of the river. This disturbed a redshank which noisily disappeared downstream.

At this point I noticed the hide so I crossed over for a nosey. It turned out to be a covered screen giving an excellent view of the pond. There's no seating but that's no great hardship. If the green-winged teal was still on, and if I could actually see it, there was a good chance I'd finally be able to get a photo of one. At least two big "ifs" there.

There were upwards of a hundred teal. And as far as I could determine at first scan they were all common teal. A couple of groups were on the water, each with a dozen drakes busily head-bobbing and whistling at a couple of ducks. There were more loafing by the banks of the little island opposite and yet more asleep on the opposite bank. I couldn't find anything that wasn't a common teal amongst them: all the white chalk marks were horizontal, all the green and red on their heads delineated in cream. I checked the bus times: I had an hour for the 89 to Knott End, an hour and a half for the bus back to Lancaster. Plenty of time to keep looking 

Wigeons and teal

Forty-something wigeons grazed on the far bank or loafed in the water just under the bank. A few mallards dabbled around and over on the island an oystercatcher and a lesser black-back fossicked about in the grass. A much smaller island to the right looked empty until a snipe yawned and stretched.

Nearly an hour into the watch everything went quiet and a cloud of birds — starlings and redshanks — exploded into the sky a couple of fields away. The quiet, with so many birds, was uncanny. The cause emerged within moments: a male sparrowhawk scudded over the hedgerow, sped low over the water then rose over the road and headed downriver.

Normal service resumed fairly quickly and I resumed my search for a green-winged teal. I let the Knott End bus go. The oystercatcher was spooked by a passing lorry and it's flying about in a panic had a lot of the teal and wigeon skittering into the water. A lot of the birds I couldn't see properly on the bank were now out in the open. All common teals.

A flock of herring gulls passing overhead reminded me to check the time. I had one last look round and walked back down to Conder Bridge. A couple of dozen teal were on the river and I had enough time to confirm they were all common teal. I walked on down to The Stork Inn and got the bus back to Lancaster.

Lancaster Canal

A nice add-on to the list of easy Winter walks. A green-winged teal would just have been icing on the cherry.