Things to look out for in the garden - water visitors

The mallard is just about our familiar duck, and can be seen in nearly every wetland habitat from parks to lakes to private gardens. In Sussex and Kent, mallards even next on roundabouts! The drake, with his bottle-green head, bright yellow bill, white collar and brown breast, is unmistakeable, but as with most wildfowl, the duck is far less striking, she is patterned in shades of beige and dark brown with a darker eye-stripe that contrasts with paler stripes above and below. To add to the confusion, mallards cross-breed with domestic ducks which results in bewildering array of duckling colours and shapes.

The pochard is quite commonplace, although may people see it without knowing its name - it is herbivorous (a weed and vegetation eater) and that means it tends to congregate on large pools and ponds. The drake is very handsome, with his chestnut head, black breast and grey body. The female is mostly grey, with a brown head and breast and usually paler areas around the eye and bill.

Teal are smaller than most other British ducks and unlike those described above, are not usually available for purchase through specialist poultry and wildfowl suppliers. They are wary little birds, which prefer water areas with a fringe of vegetation, from which they spring loudly when startled. The male has a chestnut head with a wide green stripe through the eye, and a yellowish flash under the tail. In flight both sexes show a broad green trailing edge to the inner wing. Teal are very vocal, which may be one reason they've never become popular garden pets!

A surprise new arrival is the little egret - a small white heron with attractive white plumes on crest, back and chest, black legs and bill and yellow feet. It appeared as a visitor in the UK in 1989 and first bred in Dorset in 1996. Little egrets are wetland birds with a preference for lowland shallow waters, especially along coasts and estuaries. The estuaries of south Devon and Cornwall; Poole Harbour and Chichester Harbour hold some of the largest concentrations and birds can be seen right round to North Norfolk. Garden egret photograph by mikebaird, used under a creative commons attribution licence.

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