Despite the dull weather I took a walk down Attenborough this morning.
Along with many of the usual suspects I saw a goldeneye, a snipe, a goldcrest and finally a female mandarin duck.
It won’t have flown from the orient but it is likely to be a descendant of ducks imported when it was fashionable to have exotic ducks on private ponds.
She is quite nicely marked but not a patch on the male. This is one I saw on another reserve.
I was pleased to see my first goosander of the winter early on in my walk
This is a female which unusually is more colourful than the male who is pretty much black and white.
Likewise…
Ben Parker (sent from my iPhone)
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What a headline – got my hopes up for a real rarity!
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Oops! Sorry to disappoint – but she is a bit of a looker don’t you think.
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