If you go down to the reserve today, you could be in for a surprise. No, thankfully no bears. Instead, in amongst all the wigeon is a rather odd looking duck. Below is a picture, kindly supplied by a visitor
Photo by Keith Waterfall
So, what is it? Well, believe it or not, it is an Australian wood duck, sometimes also called a maned duck or even maned goose. It is a large, goose-like duck. Quite possibly related to our shelducks, though this is by no means clear (the relationships between duck species can be quite complex).
So what is it doing at Frampton?
Well, we really don't think that it has made its way over here under its own steam. However good their cricket team may be, to expect a bird to fly here from Australia is just pushing the limits of probability. Instead, it is probably an escapee from a wildfowl collection somewhere. It used to be very much the in thing for big country houses to have a collection of captive ducks on their ornamental lake. Who often scarpered! That is the origin of all the Canada geese you see about, plus the odd mandarin duck. These days some of that still goes on, though they are more likely to be from private zoos and wildlife parks.
So, not a genuinely wild bird, but still interesting to see. Though not the kind of Australian duck those of us who follow cricket were hoping for...
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.