Ducks At Dusk

Don't get your hopes up - these pictures are of joy at having my camera back and show an out of focus non-panoramic view of a fraction of the Yellow Marshes and a Song Thrush that can't be distinguished as a bird. You're welcome

Having been bed-bound by the flu for four days, I was itching to get out birding. It seemed I had recovered by the afternoon so I made plans for a visit to see a WALBOC specialty. At the Yellow Marshes in late-January and February, for an unknown reason, ducks and woodcock (and presumably Snipe though I've never seen one) fly from west to east. Where they come from or where they go is anybody's guess but for the time being I'll just enjoy it.

There was lots on view from the start, plenty of small things and countless thrushes but nothing new. My camera, primed for action after over a year on the sidelines (ten months on and off; two months of being terrible; a month of not working; and then two months being fixed) so I fiddled around with it.

As darkness fell I realised how many mammals there were at WALBOC, I had no less than four different foxes, a roe deer, loads of rabbits and a weasel. The problem with birding in the dark is wishful thinking - I started to turn everything into a Woodcock in my head. Pigeons, redwings, reed bunts, foxes and the roe deer but it wasn't happening.

Soon ducks started to appear, I was particularly looking for Teal for my year list. Four Mallards went over but then the light made it hard to identify anything else. The bins became useless for the next three groups. The first I'd say were Mandarin and the third Wigeon but the second looked very odd indeed. From a shockng sketch and notes I made at the time they best resembled Barrow's Goldeneye! However, barring this miracle I put it down to an aberrant or escaped Mallard or the terrible light conditions.

I'll have another crack in the same spot soon.

WALBOC Patchlist: 88

WALBOC Yearlist: 68