Thirteen of us met at Thornton Reservoir on Sunday 20th January 2019. It was a cold, dull day with little wind. Our walk around the reservoir was uneventful apart from the sighting of a male Carolina or Wood duck. A beautiful bird with well marked plumage, demonstrating its relationship to the Mandarin duck. It's not as common as the Mandarin duck with less than 20 breeding pairs in this country; most are escapees.
Like the Mandarin, the Wood duck favours nesting in trees and as it's name suggests prefers an environment with plenty of foliage. Despite the quietness of the day 40 species were seen or heard, however no raptors appeared and the only wader was the lapwing.
Bird sightings: Mute swans, Greylag geese, Canada geese, Mallards, Gadwalls, Wigeon, Teal, Tufted ducks, Little grebe, Great crested grebe, Cormorants, Grey heron, Moorhen, Lapwings x20, Black-headed gulls, Common gull, Lesser black-backed gull, Stock dove, Wood pigeon, Great spotted woodpecker, Pied wagtail, Dunnocks, Robin, Song thrush, Redwing, Mistle thrush (c), Blackbirds, Goldcrest, Great tit, Coal tit, Blue tit, Long-tailed tits x6, Nuthatch, Magpies, Jay, Jackdaws, Carrion crow, Chaffinch, Linnets x4,
Carolina or Wood duck
Total: 40 species
Madeleine.
