Mandarins and other things

In early March a drake Mandarin was found on the Perch Pond in the Park by non-birder, or possibly a birder but not one that we know. Widely twitched as usual, I was in Canary Wharf and unable to get there, and shortly after most people had seen it it did a bunk over Heronry and wasn't seen again. Until this Friday that is when James found what presumably is the same bird on Heronry. It quickly did a bunk again but only as far as Shoulder of Mutton where Bob, quick off the mark as ever, refound it a short while later. This time I wasn't in Canary Wharf, I was in Budapest. Excellent.

Roll forward to this Saturday, and now back home I am chomping at the bit to get into the Park and find both the Mandarin and the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and dare to dream, a migrant. Fat chance on the latter, it has been utterly hopeless on that front. We've had a handful of Swallows, and I do mean a handful. Under ten. Pathetic. But I did get lucky with the Mandarin on Shoulder of Mutton first thing. It hadn't been there when I arrived, or perhaps was tucked up, but I picked it up in flight for the briefest moment as it departed east back towards Heronry. I couldn't refind it there, and a message about a close-by Bullfinch saw me take a cursory glance at Perch before heading off. Natuarally I dipped it. And the Lesser Spot. Then it was time for the Wheatear Trophy presentation.

As Tony and I headed towards the Flats we decided to check Perch. And there it was! Glorious! It is my seventh record of Mandarin, so not super rare but equally quite a long way from annual. This is quite surprising for a species that lives in some numbers not that far away, so I suppose they must be fairly sedentary. This one was really quite friendly.....where has it come from? Who cares as I had my camera with me, my lovely new tiny light-weight toy camera. I have decided that seeing as I barely notice it upon my shoulder that I will try and take it out with me much more often. Weather permitting as it is no Canon 1 series, or at least I have not yet tested it out in the kind of extreme conditions that I knew would do absolutely nothing to the 1DX. It just seems so petite and delicate, how it possibly be expected to repel a single droplet of water? It probably just needs to man up. Or I do. In reality it is all academic as I don't go birding in the rain anyway.

 

Wanstead Wheatear Trophy 2025

I was away last week for work but I did not miss a great deal. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was found in the Park, good to see that these are still clinging on, and a drake Mandarin Duck has been hanging around. Somebody might have seen a Swallow I think, oh and Bob's microphone has been going great guns overnight with passage waders, but generally migrants have been desperately thin on the ground. I was worried that whilst in Budapest the flood gates would open and the patch would be drenched in migrants. Nope, it has been strangely quiet with barely any movement. No doubt the high pressure has seen everything soar straight over?

Louis's triumpant Wheatear on March 22nd has so far been the only Wheatear. Thank God for all the training, had he not been so alert we might still not have seen one. And we are not sure what a blank March might mean for the Wanstead Wheatear Trophy, perhaps it would see it simply retained by whoever had won it last year, with the finder's cup presumably changing hands regardless as this is not date dependent. Let's hope it never comes to that, what a damp squib that would be!

After a short period all dipping Lesser Spot in the Park we all gathered at VizMig on Saturday morning. Louis was dressed up as expected, he set the standard a number of years ago and this has become something of a tradition. What we were not expecting was for Tony to whip off his coat to also reveal a dress shirt, tuxedo and a bow tie. Most excellent. Speeches were made, fizz was drunk, and the charity total from the entrance fee of nearly £200 was revealed taking us to something like £1000 over the years. This year we are giving it to the South Essex Wildlife Hospital in Orsett, a fine choice from Mary.