My house is on the edge of a lake in Surrey, and when lockdown started in the Spring of 2020 I used much of my time observing the wildfowl that I had until that time taken for granted. I learnt a lot about the residents of the lake and took quite a few pictures which I would like to share.
The next picture is an interesting trio of ducks. Anybody recognise the odd one out?
More to follow.
Its amazing what you can learn just be taking the little bit of extra time and slowing down.
As a former hill and moorland walker, I used to cringe when fellow walkers insisted they had to get their target mileage in, what they missed in scenery alone, let alone wildlife was unreal.
Now not able to tackle the hills and moors like I used to, I'll quite happily go to a reserve and observe what's there, sometimes I hope to see what I'd expect to see, but if not, there's always something to see, and because I like taking (often toooo many) photos, there's always something to see, and learn.
I am not surprised about seeing a Wood Duck. I read somewhere that a few years ago there were only about15 or so pairs in the country. The one in the picture is the only one I have seen on the lake. It traveled around with the Mandarins for quite a while. The lake isn't anything special, just an old lake associated with the manor that was on the land prior to development. There's just a bunch of houses around it now and it has nothing to do with conservation. It may have been an escapee from a reserve, but I didn't see a ring on it nor was it clipped. I took some pictures which my daughter published to her keep fit group and one of them said "What's that!", so I did some research. I first saw it in about April 2020 and it stayed the rest of the year. The last time I saw it was early in 2021. We had a pair of Ruddy Shelducks arrive on the lake which were clipped and ringed. The female disappeared and the male honked outside my bedroom window for months. It must have worked because I saw four of them on the lake a few weeks back and some of those are still here. Peter
If to want to share your bad hair day photos, you can either share them in your own posting, or include them on the Bad pics of fab wildlife - part 2! thread. There is a good collection of photos from forum members and some amusing ones as well.
https://community.rspb.org.uk/chat/f/the-tea-rooms/113733/bad-pics-of-fab-wildlife---part-2/1146672#pifragment-4313=135