Review of 2019 and 2020 - Birds: Ducks

DUCKS, GEESE and SWANS (family ANATIDAE) (continued)


Mandarin Aix galericulata - 3 at Santon Downham on 23rd February 2019.


Shoveler Spatula clypeata - Very occasionally seen from the meadows including 3 over in January 2019.


Shoveler x Gadwall hybrid Spatula clypeata x Mareca strepera - On the way home from a family visit to the Lakes I stopped off at Nosterfield in Yorkshire to see this gorgeous hybrid on 31st December 2019.  It was a bit distant for photos, so you'll have to trust me when I say it was one of the finest birds I saw all year.

Gadwall x Shoveler hybrid, Nosterfield LNR, 31st December 2019

Gadwall Mareca strepera - Occasionally seen from the meadows including a flock of 6 over on 25th August 2019.


Wigeon Mareca penelope - Heard flying over the garden on 29th October 2019.  Also heard over the meadows on a couple of occasions but rarely seen from here despite the presence of a flock of 15 on my only visit to the park lake in October 2019.


Mallard Anas platyrhynchos - Regularly seen at the meadows, or rather from the meadows.  A count of 100 at Ryburgh on 4th October 2019.

Mallard, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th April 2020

Mallard x Rosybill hybrid Anas platyrhynchos x Netta peposaca - As regular readers will know, I can't resist a good hybrid so knowing there had recently been a couple of Mallard x Rosybill hybrids at Lackford Lakes I took an opportunity to see if they were still there.  Well there was no sign of them on the lake they had been reported fron but I continued round the lakes and eventually managed to locate them.  Two males, and what utterly splendid birds they were too...

Mallard x Rosybill hybrids, Lackford Lakes, 23rd February 2019

Pintail Anas acuta - Seen at the coast but no noteworthy records in 2019-20.


Teal Anas crecca - A flock of 158 seen distantly from the meadows in flight on 26th January 2019,  possibly having been disturbed from the park lake during shooting.  Also often seen in the flooded field at the bottom of the lane, including about 150 flushed from here on 29th November 2019 and 83 flushed from further downstream by a Marsh Harrier on 28th December 2020.

Teal, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th December 2020

Teal x Yellow-billed Teal Anas crecca x Anas flavirostris - One in captivity, a rare hybrid that I've not come across before.

captive Teal x Yellow-billed Teal hybrid, Blakeney Collection, 16th October 2020

Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina  - Two males at Titchwell on 1st June 2019.


Rosybill Netta peposaca - Only captive birds, but including an unfamiliar (to me) plumage.

captive Rosybill, Blakeney Collection, 16th October 2020

Pochard Aythya ferina - One on the park lake in October 2019 and January 2020.  The lake is private but a small part of it is just visible in winter from the chapel ruins (which are inside the Cathedral Meadows recording area)


Pochard x Ferruginous Duck Aythya ferina x Aythya nyroca - A female with Pochards at Llobregat Delta in Spain on 22nd February 2020.


Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula - Sometimes seen on the park lake distantly from the chapel (which is inside the meadows recording area).  Surprising that I've not yet managed to see this species from the meadows any other way.


Scaup Aythya marila - One at Nosterfield (Yorkshire) on 31st December 2019.


Eider Somateria mollissima - The only noteworthy record was 70 past Sheringham on 21st October 2019.

Eider, Sheringham, 21st October 2019

Velvet Scoter Melanitta fusca - One past Sheringham on 21st October 2019.


Common Scoter Melanitta nigra - 160 past Sheringham on 21st October 2019.

Common Scoter, Pendeen, 5th October 2020

Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis -One past Sheringham on 21st October and one at Cley on 12th November 2019.

Long-tailed Duck, Cley, 12th November 2019

Goldeneye Bucephala clangula - Small numbers recorded at several sites in 2019, mostly during the 2-3 times I left the county.

Goldeneye, Lackford Lakes, 23rd February 2019

Smew Mergellus albellus - One at Nosterfield (Yorkshire) on 31st December 2019.


Goosander Mergellus merganser - One at Rydal Water (Cumbria) during a visit to family in December 2019.


Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator - A few records but none significant.


Next page: Swifts, Cuckoos, Doves and Pigeons, Rails and Coots, and Grebes

Or return to Birds index

Surprise Sandpiper

I started off at Titchwell this morning where there were 2 Water Rails in the ditches beside the main path near the visitor centre and a Water Pipit further up.

 Water Rails, Titchwell, 23rd January

I was afraid the mist would prevent viewing on the sea and it did restrict visibility a bit, but it was still excellent.  There were ducks everywhere - thousands of Common Scoter (has anyone actually counted these??).  Impossible to count accurately I estimated about 70 Long-tailed Ducks on view early on and counted 45 Velvet Scoters, although the latter was undoubtedly conservative.  A drake Eider was there, a Red-breasted Merganser flew past and there were at least 12 Goldeneye (probably more) on the sea.  A group of 4 Red-crested Pochard would have been a surprise had I not remembered reports of an even larger group over the weekend.  A first-winter drake Scaup flew in from the south and landed on the sea - apparently it had been seen on the freshmarsh until then.

Yesterday Paul had seen 2 Scaup and a presumed Scaup x Tufted Duck hybrid at Saddlebow.  His description of the hybrid sounded interesting - hard to imagine what else it could have been but it sounded a bit different from typical examples of this hybrid.  I decided to head down there and have a look but although the 2 Scaup (drakes) were easily found I couldn't locate the hybrid.  I checked the other bridges south of here down to Stowbridge (where there were 4 Goldeneye) but no luck.

Cormorant, Stowbridge, 23rd January

Stowbridge, 23rd January

Next stop was Nar Valley Fishery, entering from the Wormegay High Bridge end.  Had Sparrowhawk and Kingfisher as I walked along the Nar towards the gravel pits and then when I reached the first pit close to the path I saw a small wader flying towards me.  It looked like a Common Sandpiper but as it continued past and away I was troubled by the fact that it seemed to lack the usual distinctive flight pattern of Common Sandpiper, not arching its wings at all.  But it was rising to get over the trees at the end of the pit so I guess that's why and as it did so it let out a short triple-note call.  Thank goodness for that - I don't think I could have put it down otherwise.  A totally unexpected mid-winter record - my first ever in January. 

I walked on to the actual fishery which was all frozen but provides a good vantage for one of the largest of the gravel pit lakes which wasn't completely frozen over.  I nearly mistook a family part of 3 swans as Bewick's but gave them a second look when I saw 2 adult Whoopers nearby - they were in fact all 5 Whooper Swans. 

Whooper Swans, Nar Valley Fishery, 23rd January

There were also 75 Mute Swans and among the duck, 5 Goldeneye.

Goldeneye, Nar Valley Fishery, 23rd January

For the second time in three days I glimpsed a large-looking egret flying behind trees and dropping down.  Fortunately this time the light was better and I saw the bill clearly enough - as I suspected this was the Great White Egret.

While all this was happening I was mulling over the Common Sandpiper in my mind, allowing doubts to start creeping in.  I started thinking about Spotted Sandpiper.  My recollection was that their call is more like Green Sandpiper, not like what I just heard, which sounded like a Common Sandpiper, but foolishly I played a recording of Spotted Sandpiper just to reassure myself.  The start of the call in the recording I listened to was a bit more like Common Sand than I'd remembered, although it finished off as I recalled.  I'd only heard 3 notes - was I 100% sure?  I was pretty sure, but not 100% sure.  Spotted Sandpiper also has a slightly shorter wing-bar and although I couldn't be certain I'd have picked up on this in the view I got, I reckoned I probably would have done.  But with niggling doubts I spent the rest of the afternoon checking over the gravel pits towards Wormegay High Bridge which were in the direction it was flying towards and probably the most likely habitat for it to stick around in.  I know from my reservoir-watching days how Common Sandpipers often get quite vocal flying around at dusk so maybe this would allow me to confirm.  It didn't - there was no more sign, so I put it down as a "presumed" Common Sandpiper.  However, later on Dawn drew my attention to a tweet I'd overlooked the day before - Ash Banwell had seen it yesterday and identified it as Common.

Anyhow, while looking for the sandpiper I did see a redhead Smew - another bird that had been reported yesterday although I'd forgotten until I saw it.  Also a Barn Owl.

Ruddy Shelduck from the house

I've done far too little birding over the last couple of weeks, but did at least get out properly yesterday.  Prior to yesterday highlights were in lunch breaks.  On 2nd March north of Stanhoe I picked up a bird flying towards me from low down on a field that was immediately obviously a Rough-legged Buzzard.  But as it was flying straight towards me I decided to grab the camera, which got caught in my handbreak and by the time I'd freed it the bird was over the top of my car.  I couldn't get out as I was blocking the track and now something was coming, and by the time I'd got out of the way the bird was nowhere to be seen.  Then I started questioning myself as to what I'd seen in the quick view before my hapless decision to grab the camera.  Was I really positive that I'd seen what I thought I'd seen?  I ended up deciding I'd best not claim it.  Annoyed with myself for stuffing it up, and probably being excessively cautious over what should have been a perfectly good record.  Whether it was one of the birds from the Chosely area or not I don't know - it's not very far away so quite plausibly so.

A Red Kite and 2 Barn Owls were in the same area and seconds later the huge grey cloud that was looming suddenly deposited an incredible amount of hail leaving the roads looking like there had been a major snowstorm.  It was very localised and half a mile away the thick white covering on the roads finished abruptly and colleagues just down the road at Bircham hadn't seen any hail at all.

On 3rd March I was working from home when I saw a duck flying straight towards me.  That might not sound remarkable, but in the 18 months I've been living here I have only once seen a duck before.  That was flying towards me on a similar flight path but I didn't have my bins to hand.  Bizarrely it looked like a Ruddy Shelduck, but in near-silhoutte and with no bins I didn't consider that rather unlikely identification sufficiently certain to record it as such.  This time I had one of those déjà vu moments as I got exactly the same impression as I saw it flying towards me along the same flight path.  But this time I had my bins to hand and was able to confirm that it was indeed a Ruddy Shelduck!

Next day I was driving through Burnham Norton in my lunch break, around 1.00 pm I think and in bright sunshine, when a small Bat flew across the road and disappeared behind the house.  First time I've ever seen a bat flying in the middle of the day in broad daylight.  It seemed to fly out from the top of a tree, though it may have simply come from behind it; a bird (Blackbird I think) had just flown into the top of the tree so I wonder if it might have accidentally disturbed the bat?

On Monday I popped in to Brancaster Staithe during my lunch break.  The Red-necked Grebe was still there, along with a Goldeneye.

 Goldeneye, Brancaster Staithe, 7th March

Red-necked Grebe, Brancaster Staithe, 7th March

rainbow, Brancaster Staithe, 7th March

Next day I paused at Flitcham where a Little Owl remains in the roots of the oak tree in front of the hide, visible from the road.

Heavy rain all morning on Wednesday hadn't relented by lunchtime when I headed over to Holkham.  The weather meant fewer people and in turn that meant more birds showing by Lady Anne's Drive including lots of Ruff, Snipe and loads of other common birds.  Nearby a pair of Egyptian Geese were like chalk and cheese - one looked wetter than a drowned rat while the other looked in fine condition.

Egyptian Geese, Holkham, 9th March

Yesterday I headed up to Burnham Overy early in the hope of finding one or two early spring migrants.  Rather fancied finding a Great Spotted Cuckoo in the dunes.  Good dreaming, but back in the real world I couldn't even find a Chiffchaff.  I did see 2 Peregrines including one that put on a fantastic show stooping at a flock of Starlings.  Other raptors included Red Kite and Sparrowhawk.

Lots of waders on the freshmarsh with the tide being high including at least 150 Black-tailed Godwits.  Surprisingly few geese though - took me a while to see any Pink-feet though eventually a flock of 40 flew west and another smaller flock appeared later on.  The Brents were in the channel later on when the tide had gone down.  Among them was the Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid.  I say 'the', but I'm not convinced it's the same bird I've seen each time I've seen one over the last 2-3 winters.  Maybe, but sometimes it looks a much better contender for pure Black Brant than other times.  Today it looked extremely similar to a Black Brant, but the neck collar was very thin at the front.

A Red-breasted Merganser flew past but apart from 3 Great Crested Grebes there wasn't much on the sea.  A Goldeneye was on the reedy pool.  The only passerine of any note was a Stonechat.

Dunnock, Burnham Overy, 12th March

In the afternoon I headed to the local patch - more on that later...