Species of the week: shelduck

Before I set off for my lunchtime wander around the Scrape this afternoon, I had intended to return to write my latest species of the week blog about avocets, but they'll have to wait. Instead, I'm going to focus another mainly white and black bird from our "70 species to spot at Minsmere" challenge: the shelduck.

Shelducks are large white ducks, with dark bottle-green heads, black wing markings, a chestnut breast band, and bright red bill. The name is thought to derive from "shield duck" - a reference to that red bill that extends up the forehead like a shield. 

Unusually among ducks, male and female look alike, though you can tell the difference relatively easily, as illustrated in this picture. Males are largely, slightly brighter, and with a much more prominent shield. In this sense, they are much more like geese than ducks. In another similarity to geese, both parents care for the young. This is one reason for the female's lack of camouflaged plumage. Another reason is that most sheducks nest in burrows - often disused rabbit burrows - then walk their chicks to water.

This pair were busy preening on East Scrape, keeping their plumage in tip top condition before the breeding season gets underway. Another pair at West Scrape were diving below the water in vigorous bathing.

Looking around the Scrape, pair bonding and courtship behaviour are increasingly obvious, even among the ducks species that will be departing for northern climes very soon - wigeon, teal and pintail, for example. Greylag and Canada geese are pair up too, and lapwings are beginning to display at North Hide. 

Perhaps the most obvious display around the Scrape, though is the gulls. The raucous calls of black-headed gulls and cat-like call of Mediterranean gulls can now be heard wherever you on the reserve, while ont he Scrape itself there's regular scraps and arguments with the not-so-friendly neighbours.

These two were certainly arguing about something. Luckily, this one (below) was much more obliging.

Other birds to look out for on the Scrape include dunlins, turnstones, ringed and grey plovers and black-tailed godwits. It's also worth checking through the large flock of feral barnacle geese for a very unusual looking goose. Mainly white, with black wings and a tiny dirty-red bill, it looks superficially like a very rare blue-morph of Ross's goose - a species that breeds in the Canadian Arctic. We think it's actually a hybrid between Ross's goose and barnacle goose. It's certainly distinctive.

While the gulls and avocets are busy preparing for the breeding season, several winter visitors are yet to depart on the long journey to their own breeding grounds. The family of five whooper swans remains, as does at least one of the two redhead smews. Water pipits have been scarcer than usual this winter, so it was a bonus to come across this stunning individual feeding right in front of South Hide. Better still, it has already acquired the pink breast of it's breeding plumage. 

Unlike most winter migrants, that visit us from Siberia, Scandinavia or the Arctic, water pipits follow a different strategy. They breed in the high mountains of central and southern Europe, migrating north-west to the lowlands around the North Sea to escape the winter snow. 

A handful of summer visitors have already begun to make it our shores too, with the first sand martin, garganey, chiffchaffs and black redstarts all reported last week. With warmer weather expected, more migrants should arrive this week. 

Adders have been seen fro several weeks now, but I finally saw my first one of the spring today. Bitterns are booming - and often showing well at Island Mere - and marsh harriers are displaying and nest-building already. Otter sightings are still frequent, and the starlings are still displaying at dusk.

Finally, one of our regular photosgraphers was lucky enough to find two firecrests int he Rhododendron tunnel yesterday - two years after spending hours photographing them in the same area. He also saw a common redpoll and several lesser redpolls among the siskins in the same area, while I saw this very obliging siskin at the pond today.