The last Ferruginous Duck that I saw in my home county of Oxfordshire was on Otmoor in March 2013. That bird was difficult to observe from the second screen and I only got the briefest of views since the duck spent most of its time tucked up in the reeds bordering the far side of the northern lagoon. So the drake that Geoff Wyatt found on the Allen Pit close to Dorchester-on-Thames on Tuesday was long overdue and it would be good to get another chance at seeing the species in Oxon. Trouble was that owing to a heavy workload I wouldn't get my chance until the weekend so it was an anxious wait through the week in the hope the bird stayed.
The provenance of many Ferruginous Ducks, or Fudge Ducks as birders colloquially refer to them, can be difficult to ascertain and thus many are often dismissed as being escapes from collections. There are also many hybrid ducks that can superficially resemble a Ferruginous Duck but which have some trait of a parent bird of a different species and are thus rejected as being the real deal. Thankfully the bird that Geoff had found looked one hundred percent nailed on for a genuine bonafide textbook example of a proper Ferruginous Duck so there would be no issues with adding it to the year list. The finest example of a Ferruginous Duck that I've seen, other than those in captive collections, was one at Helston Boating Lake in Cornwall but unfortunately that individual was deemed to have been released from a private collection. I have, however, seen quite a few genuine types over the years.
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| Ferruginous Duck, Helston, 15/10/2019 |
I'd never been birding at Dorchester-on-Thames before either except for pausing in a lay-by by the side of the ring road to scope a Long-tailed Duck once. Allen Pit, where the Fudge Duck had been discovered is a privately owned body of water set in the flat flood plain next to the River Thames. The owner had very graciously allowed birders access to the pit via a private farm track. After parking in the village we made our way along a corridor of muddy and well walked paths before turning onto a wider farm track. Apart from a flock of active Black-headed Gulls swirling around about half a mile distant, there was no visible sign that a pit was even there. The wind was bitingly cold in the exposed flat farmland blowing in from the direction of the river. Just a few hundred yards short of the site we finally clapped eyes on the pit which looked particularly bleak in the greyness of the day. Fellow Oxon birder Tom was the only other birder present but before joining him I stopped and scanned the pit to see if I could find the Ferruginous Duck myself. After perusing all of the available Ducks on offer there was no sign of the target bird at all so I succumbed and asked Tom if he'd seen it. Apparently he'd had the same problem with finding the Fudge Duck since it was hugging the furthest shore and when not submerged, it only surfaced for a few seconds before diving again, was hard to pick up in the choppy water. With his help and after erecting and using my scope, Mrs Caley and I got our views, albeit of a very distant blob!
We steeled ourselves against the wind, which appeared to be strengthening and getting colder, there was even a few flecks of sleet, and crossed fingers in the hope that the Duck would swim closer to our side of the pit. The Duck didn't seem to want to leave the far bank though. Tom left and we were joined by another friend, Simon who wisely didn't bother wasting time looking for the duck himself and instead asked where it was. While we chatted we watched a good sized flock of Fieldfare that were feeding in paddocks on the village side of the track. Typically as I lifted the camera to take some shots a low flying passing Red Kite frightened the whole flock and they were gone.
We had better luck when a female Kestrel floated into view and hovered in the wind over the closest edge of the pit. We watched the mastery of the Falcon as it battled to stay steady but of course it possesses great prowess when it comes to flying. The way the Kestrel kept its head fixed on its target while staying aloft maybe twenty feet above the ground was awesome to watch so closely.
The noise of mine and Simon's camera shutters rattling off must have interested the Kestrel because on a couple of occasions it turned its head to stay directly at us. The resulting images were extremely pleasing. Satisfying enough for me to submit a couple to the weekly BirdGuides Photo contest and I sincerely thought that I'd get at least a "Notable Photo" recognition. That notion was rather foolish of course and I should have known better. The photos were passed over yet again and instigated a bit of an Old Caley meltdown, the outcome of which was me vowing (definitely) to never post a photo onto the site again and a promise (maybe) to myself to change allegiance to another bird news service when the renewal date arrives. I don't know who judges the photos these days but its clear that myself, and plenty of others like me, are wasting their time trying to impress those adjudicators since every week the merit is given to the same small group of people, many of whom are akin to professional photographers anyway and have distinctly much higher end kit than I'll ever own. I've never been that competitive and if I can't compete then I don't so I give up. At least my photos won't be used for free in the weekly roundups. I posted in the hope of a "Notable" only to receive a "Not Able" once again. I feel better already and I haven't even looked at the "Photo of the week" competition winners since. Blow them!
The Kestrel also managed to ignore me once it had posed for the shots, "Your photos are crap mate" and dropped to the ground. It hopped along into the reeds, presumably to keep hold of its own capture, and a few seconds it emerged with some unfortunate four legged creature. The Kestrel sped off across the lake to consume its meal somewhere away from prying eyes.
The owner of the pit was walking his dog around the perimeter of the water, which would normally have raised my ire up a few levels, but on this occasion he was actually doing us a favour because the wildfowl, and in particular the Ferruginous Duck, were disturbed enough to seek refuge in the middle rather than the furthest bank. This brought the Fudge Duck much closer to us and meant that I could at least get some identifiable images that proved it was one hundred percent nailed on for a genuine bonafide textbook example of a male Ferruginous Duck.
Happy that I'd got some record shots of the Fudge Duck, we opted out of lingering in the cold any longer and made our way back towards the car. The walk to the pit had been a bit frigid but the walk back directly into the wind was absolutely Arctic! I couldn't resist stopping to photograph some of our lesser appreciated birds, Jackdaws and Rooks, that were probing for food in a lush grassy field. I'm a big fan of Rooks, to my mind they are a beautifully ugly (ha!) bird and in good light their feathers shimmer with so many hues of blues, purples and blacks. Jackdaws are mischievous, the imps of the Corvid family, and always appear to be getting up to tricks and into trouble.
The following day was a washout, with persistent rain putting paid to any serious birding although we did try for half an hour at the local wetlands but quickly decided to go and drink coffee instead. At least fair weather birders stay dry and warm. My mind remembered that awful wet afternoon at Pitsford last autumn when we almost drowned in our efforts to see a storm blown Leach's Storm Petrel. It takes a really good bird to get us out in downpours.
Year List addition;
135) Ferruginous Duck
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