The wanderer returns

An old friend returned to Minsmere last week. Fiona, the greater flamingo that escaped from Marwell Zoo in December, was spotted back on the Scrape early last week. In the two months since she was last at Minsmere, we know she's spent some time in North Norfolk, and think she was probably the flamingo that caused chaos by walking around the runway at Manchester airport! Clearly, the draw of Minsmere proved too much for her, and she made her way back here for what we hope may be another extended stay.

There is something different about Fiona this time, though. She's paler, having lost much of her rosy complexion. The reason for this is likely to be a lack of suitable pigments in her food. In captivity, flamingos are given pigment-enriched food to maintain their colours. In the wild they'd normally get these pigments from the shrimps and other invertebrates on which they are feeding, but these pigments are not present in the food chain here.

Strangely, given that we are always pointing out to visitors that everything you see at Minsmere is wild, so we can't predict what you'll actually see, Fiona is only one of several escapees on the reserve at present. Joining her on the Scrape at times is a Cape shelduck. As it's name suggests this is a southern African species. It's similar in size and shape to our shelducks, but is a deep chestnut with dark grey head. When not on the Scrape, this duck may be on Island Mere.

Another escaped duck that we've seen recently is a silver Bahama pintail. This form is mainly white, with a small red patch at the base of the bill and is only found in captivity. (Bahama pintails are usually brown with white cheeks.)

If you look carefully among our large flocks of feral geese (barnacle, greylag and Canada geese that somewhere in the past have descended from captive stock) you may find two more exotic species. Two red-breasted geese attract the interest of birdwatchers as this species does turn up in the UK occasionally, but these are known to be present locally throughout the year so much be of captive origin. A bar-headed goose is definitely an escape since wild birds migrate from Mongolia and eastern Russia over the top of the Himalayas to spend the winter in India. You may also spot the odd hybrid goose to cause further confusion.

Of course, there are lots of wild birds at Minsmere too, including more than 500 teals on the Scrape and a good selection of wading birds and migrant warblers to attract your attention.

"Fiona" by Jon Evans, as she looked in May