Blue Wing Teal

[Dano]

I have only ever seen 3 Blue Wing Teal in the lower mainland and it was quite a surprise to see this pair on my walk this morning!

[Firstblood]

Seen a few up near fruitloops, they all disappear well before the season opens. Saw a cinnamon teal a couple years back, My dream is a drake green, blue and cinnamon all mounted together, all hanging from one leg.

[Steelpulse]

you have to hunt opening day for best shots at teal, and have to scout a spot ahead of time, no guessing, you have locate them and put the to bed days before opener. pattern them just like deer and you can have an awesome teal hunt, literally firing off seconds into legal light. Tasty bird

[wideopenthrottle]

they are so small and fly so fast that they are sure a challenge...27-35 years ago when I used to hunt ducks on Lake of the Woods (Kenora) I always found bluebills to be way more plentiful a bit bigger and just as yummy...if you have only seen a few maybe take a page out of the wood duck thread and see what you can do to help enhance the local habitat....or just shoot them heheheh

[Dano]

I've seen a pair of Cinnamon Teal out there pretty much every year we've done Woody boxes. Took this picture a few years ago. Habitat is good and the Woody boxes take up a lot of our time!





Hearing about more Blue Wings early in our hunting season. I know one was shot opening day last year and a friend got one opening day on our hunt 2 years ago.

[wideopenthrottle]

do you know from your research/experience if there is something simple that can be done to help the Teal (like putting up nesting boxes really really helps the woodies)?

[Dano]

Don't know anything about Teal nesting habits but the area I've seen them in is flooded but has lots of high ground islands. Think they are ground nesters like Mallards.
We have seen more Widgeon and Greenwing Teal around this spring too. Maybe our climate is getting more acceptable to them for nesting here rather than migrating farther north.
And I have seen a successful Gadwal hatch this spring, never seen that before around here!

[wideopenthrottle]

now I am having a look around the web for teal info...found these "cool facts"
Cool Facts

• The Blue-winged Teal is among the latest ducks to migrate northward in spring, and one of the first to migrate southward in fall.
• The Blue-winged Teal migrates over long distances. One individual banded in Alberta was shot in Venezuela a month later.
• The oldest recorded Blue-winged Teal was a male, and at least 23 years, 3 months old. He had been banded in Saskatchewan and was found in Cuba.

[Firstblood]

Those are some pretty cool facts!

[Crazy_Farmer]

Seen a couple blue wings over the years in the spring. Had two drakes fly past us twice in Ladner and we should of shot but didn't, thought they were barrows at first look because of the blue and white on the head.

And had had one cinnamon on our pond a couple weeks before the season opened but it moved off before opener