Teals play in Hanoi’s lake

At a hidden corner of Hanoi’s West Lake, there are still wild teals, a type of small duck. Sports & Culture Newspaper shot pictures of them playing in the water,

West Lake is a freshwater lake in the center of Hanoi. With a shore length of 17 km, this is the largest lake of the capital and a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas. A small part of West Lake is divided by Thanh Nien road to form Truc Bach Lake. One district of Hanoi is named after the lake, Tay Ho district.

A flock of 100 plus teals search for food in the West Lake daily. They mainly group up at an area called the “Korean Wharf”.

In this area, they freely catch fish.

Teals can dive underwater for one minute.

They often catch small fish. There are many ca kim fish in West Lake. To eat them, teals tear the fish with their long beak.

Teals often work on the fish for several minutes before swallowing it.

A teal can eat a dozen of fish like this. West Lake doesn’t have a shortage since fishermen don’t catch ca kim.

Teals become angry when their areas are violated. They warn rivals with long cries.

If rivals neglect the warning and violate their areas, the intruders will be beaten.

There is no exception for male or female birds. People differentiate male and female teals by feather color. In this case, these are two male birds since they have colorful feathers on their heads and necks.

To avoid conflict, the best way is to fly and not swim through the territory of others.

When a teal catches a fish, it quickly brings the fish to another place to eat.

Sometimes teals are very gentle.

Hanoi needs to preserve West Lake and others. Only clean and peaceful lakes can attract wild birds.

A cameraman hiding his equipment to take picture of teals.