The Mandarin duck is yet another species of bird that was introduced to the UK. In this case, I was able to ID it without any aid. In this case, it's because there have been sightings of one in Vancouver, where it is considered a rare sighting because it's a bird that has flown very much off course during migration. As a result, it makes the news, so I had heard of this bird before! By coincidence, around the same time I saw these ducks in person for the first time, also at Regent's Park, friends from back home informed me that one had just been spotted in Quebec, even farther off course than one might expect. The ones here in the UK are not off course. They were brought here on purpose. But I don't think they are really an invasive species. They don't seem to be competing and taking over the space of any native bird, but they're just a non-native bird to the region. In any case, I am dazzled by the colour of the male. In Alberta, we actually have a similarly colourful duck called a wood duck, but they only seem to inhabit the southern part of the province, and I've never been able to see one.
I was lucky to be able to capture both male and female here, but unfortunately, my shots of them together didn't turn out that well, so all I have are separate photos of them.
Comments