You always know they're around when you hear their distinctive and cheerful whistle. Look at those drakes with their red-chestnut head and the striking yellow flash running from the base of the beak to the top of the head. And then there are those wonderful grey, black & white colours over the rest of the body that sets it apart. I think that the female is a real beauty, too. I like the description of females and immatures as being the colour of autumn leaves: brown, orange and frosty white.
Like the Teal, our relatively small breeding population is joined by droves of winter tourists from places like Iceland, Scandinavia and Arctic Russia enjoying our relatively mild winter conditions!
And now for something completely different:
This gaudy Yellow-brain Fungus (Tremella mesenterica) is growing on a Gorse bush at Golden Hill Country Park. This older specimen doesn't look too much like a brain, but I can imagine it as 'Witche's Butter', it's other colloquial name!
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