Well winter is officially here at Beckingham Marshes with the arrival of the first wildfowl on some of the wetter fields across the site. It's great to see these birds back, the males looking stunning in their new plumage - they certainly brighten up even the dullest of winter days.
Teal and mallard numbers are starting to slowly increase and we will expect gadwall and shoveler to arrive sometime over the winter too. However, one species we are always keen on seeing in good numbers on site is wigeon. Wigeon, or Anas penelope, (literally meaning 'duck duck', nothing to do with the girl's name and also known as Mareca penelope), are mainly winter visitors to our shores, breeding further north from Iceland, eastwards through northern Europe and into Asia to the Pacific. There is a small breeding population in the UK in the low hundreds. The males are distinctive with their chestnut coloured heads and yellow frontal stripe from the upper bill base to the crown. Females are somewhat browner in appearance, but are instantly recognisable due to their distinctive rounded head shape.
Unlike many other closely related species, wigeon feed by grazing grassland and vegetation, as well as by dabbling for vegetation in water. They are primarily vegetarian, but will also take insects, especially young and adults in the breeding season. It is for this grazing habit, that large winter flocks are desirable on wet grassland sites such as Beckingham Marshes. As the birds graze, they reduce the height of the sward (which even in November is still growing!). This helps to get the grassland in good condition for breeding lapwing in the spring - lapwing like short sward (no more than 5cm at the beginning of the breeding season). So the wigeon get great feeding habitat over the winter and the lapwing get the sward they need in the spring when the wigeon have returned to breeding grounds - everyone's a winner!
Last winter we had up to 200 wigeon on site and with a peak count so far this year of 16, we have some way to go! However, as the temperatures drop and winter starts to really set in, we hope to see increased numbers of this important species on site.
Male and female wigeon grazing. Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)