It's certainly been a good week for duck watchers at Minsmere. With water levels slowly falling, and more semi-dry land appearing around the edge of the Scrape there have been great feeding opportunities for hundreds of ducks, especially close to North Hide and along the central bund on East Scrape. Add in the frost, which has left large parts of the Scrape frozen, and forced the ducks into tighter flocks, and there has probably never been an easier time to enjoy good views of our ducks. What's more, the low winter sun and clear blue skies this week have ensured that the ducks look better than ever.
Pick of the bunch, without a doubt was a stunning drake Ring-necked Duck that joined the throng on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is a scarce visitor to the UK from North America, with just a handful of birds reaching our shores each year. There was only seen previous record at Minsmere, seen and photographed by a visitor at Island Mere a couple of years ago, but missed by all our staff and volunteers. Therefore, when our Suffolk Area Manager found the drake roosting on the ice on Tuesday, we all excitedly rushed out to East Scrape. The bird remained hidden at first, before eventually showing itself briefly. With a bit more patience we eventually got better views, and most of Minsmere's "listers" (me included) could breathe a sigh of relief and add another bird to our Minsmere lists! Luckily for those who couldn't make it on Tuesday, the duck was still there the next day, though it seems to have moved elsewhere now.
Ring-necked Duck is one of the diving ducks, in the Aythya family, so is closely related to Pochard and Tufted Duck. In fact, it looks quite like a Tufted Duck, and is the North American equivalent. Drakes differ is several key ways. The head shape is more pointed, the bill has an obvious white band near the tip, and the flanks are grey with a very distinctive white flash at the front, rather than white in a Tufted Duck. Bizarrely, though, despite its name, there is no obvious ring around the neck! Here's a couple of pictures taken by our Site Manager that show these features.
The drake Ring-necked Duck by Robin Harvey
This scarce duck is far from the only interest among our ducks, though. This morning there was a reserve record count of 625 Shovelers, looking absolutely stunning in the sun. Likewise, there are about 100 Pintails - a really good count at Minsmere, and hundreds of Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal and Mallard. Look carefully and you might pick out a Goldeneye, Goosander, Pochard or Tufted Duck too.
A small selection of the Shovelers on the Scrape this week (with a few Teals in the foreground)
Of course, it's not just ducks on the Scrape, either. Up to ten Whooper Swans and six Bewick's Swans may be on the Scrape, too, although they also regularly move to Island Mere. There are several Lapwings and Snipe, the odd Dunlin or Curlew, plus Little Egret and various gulls, although they may not all always be visible. The track past South Hide and Wildlife Lookout remains closed due to flooding, but you will can still easily watch the Scrape from North and East Hide, and from the Public Viewing Platform.
Whooper Swans at Island Mere today
On route to East Hide, many visitors have been rewarded with excellent views of up to two Firecrests and a Chiffchaff in the large Holm Oak beside Digger Alley, or Bullfinches and Green Woodpeckers in the North Bushes. A few visitors were lucky enough to spot a Raven overhead today, too. In fact, I've just seen one over the car park myself. Other visitors have managed to spot a mixed flock of Siskins, Lesser Redpolls and Common Redpolls. Despite their name, the latter are rare visitors to the UK, where they are more typically referred to as Mealy Redpolls.
Raven by Matt Parrott
Much of the excitement, though, has been down at Island Mere, where the Truxor (an amphibious reed-cutting machine) has cleared the pool to the right of the hide. In the last few days we've had great views of Bitterns, Water Rails, Water Pipits, Snipe and Bearded Tits on the ice or feeding in the cut areas close to the hide, completely oblivious to the visitors inside the hide. The action has been so good that there's a real frisson of excitement in the hide as visitors eagerly point out each new species to newcomers. The ringtail Hen Harrier continues to show regularly too.
Water Pipit (above) and Bittern (below) at Island Mere today
While the rarer birds may have been attracting all of the attention, I couldn't help taking a photo of this gorgeous Carrion Crow posing just a few metres from the hide.
It's amazing how few photos of our commoner birds get shared with us. With the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch just around the corner (Friday 26 to Sunday 28 January), we'd love to see some of your favourite photos of commoner birds and garden visitors.