Mandarin on the Dee

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RachelMC
Posts: 460
Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 1:04 pm
Location: Chester

Mandarin on the Dee

Post by RachelMC »

Mandarin Duck on the Dee:

Yesterday (Weds 20th April 2011) while having an ice-cream in the sun at The Groves in Chester, just after high tide, I spotted a very colourful duck I'd not seen before on the Dee at Chester. At first I thought maybe Pochard or even Wigeon, but once home and checked I realised that the bright white and orange head must belong to a male Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata).

How unusual is to see a Mandarin around here?

By the way, the number of Grey Herons at the weir seems to be increasing. From the odd one last year, nine were counted the other day !

PaulMartinHill
Posts: 158
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am

Re: Mandarin on the Dee

Post by PaulMartinHill »

The River Dee is one of the better places to see Mandarin in Cheshire, they breed along the river. At one point there were more Mandarin ducks in the UK than in their native China!!!

Nice sighting of a beautiful bird.

Paul

SteveH
Posts: 2072
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am
Location: Elton, Cheshire

Re: Mandarin on the Dee

Post by SteveH »

From being restricted in Cheshire to the area around the Eaton Estate, Mandarin has become increasingly widespread in the County over recent years and the population may be as high as 100 pairs now. Interestingly, and following the 'first record' theme, I saw a female for the first time on the River Gowy (site witheld as I think they are breeding) on 11th June.
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