A Day For Ducks!

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A Day For Ducks!

My digiscoped image


We arrived at Upton at 8:00am in hopes of seeing an Iceland Gull; reported as following a plough in a field. We found a large flock of Black-headed Gulls with a few Herring Gulls in it, but after searching through the same flock multiple times, we failed to see our target; so we left and headed to Sanderson's Bank in hopes of seeing a reported Tundra Bean Goose. We got there at 9:20am and before we even parked up, I could see there were both Whooper and Bewick's Swans. I scanned through the Whooper Swans and counted at least 10 Bewick's Swans. They were noticeably smaller than the Whooper Swans and had a lot more black on the bill with a circular, yellow patch by the base. We then found a small flock of Pink-footed Geese so we scanned through them multiple times but again to no avail. We saw that the Ring-necked Duck on Dishley Pool had been reported today, so we set off seeking the American vagrant.

My digiscoped image of the sleeping female

We arrived at Dishley Pool at 12:00pm and started the trek to where a couple said to view the bird. I loved the thrill of finding my year ticks. We had only been birding 3 times so my year list for 2023 is fairly low. We got to the place where the Ring-necked Duck was, and after a bit of scanning, I managed to spot the bird asleep, with a white eye. After getting a digiscoped image of the sleeping Ring-necked Duck, we then headed for the most common bird which I still needed on my life list.

My image of one through Canon Camera

We arrived at Etherow Country Park at 3:00pm; seeking Mandarin Duck. We were unsure of a reliable site for them until someone told us about Etherow Country Park. When we arrived, we followed a trail besides the lake when a flash of colour caught my attention. There were five Mandarin Ducks! They were feeding on some seed that someone had put out. There were also a few Goosander on the opposite side of the path to us. After getting a record shot of the Mandarin Duck, we left satisfied and travelled home.

Overall, a brilliant day with 2 lifers (Ring-necked Duck & Mandarin Duck) and the first of many big twitches of 2023!

Location: Dishley Pool, Loughborough LE11 5SR, UK

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