I had intended to spend the day avoiding birds after the trials and tribulations of yesterday, but all that went out of the window when I got a call from Mark Islip. He had found a drake Red-crested Pochard at Arrow Valley Lake this morning.
This is, surprisingly, a first for the Circle. Less surprisingly I arrived to find it hanging around the duck feeding area in the north-east arm (not where Mark had found it). A family arrived and started chucking bread. The Red-crested Pochard swam towards them, although to be fair it then hung back and didn't actually take any bread.
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| Red-crested Pochard |
So probably as plastic as they come, but aren't they all. The species does breed in Europe, and there is a feral population around the Cotswold Wildlife Park. It is unfortunately very pretty, so popular in collections.
I couldn't see any rings on it, but I've no doubt it was an escape.
A Reed Warbler was singing in the reed-bed, and a quick scan brought me eight Tufted Ducks and about 30 Black-headed Gulls.
The main car-park was shut, and work constructing a new traffic island resulted in a three-way traffic light system. Despite this, the other car-park was packed and people were everywhere. Its not my favourite place.
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