A Nice Runner

A flying visit to Liden Lagoon this afternoon, was mainly to see if the resident Mute Swans were alone or not. The answer is still no, which I find quite surprising. On Christmas eve a lone cob flew in much to the annoyance of the resident cob, who repeatedly chased it around the lagoon. But two weeks on and it's still there, as are the 3 juveniles which are now slowly but surely moulting into their adult white plumage.

In amongst the Mallard was a really pretty individual that really stood out from the rest. And when it came out onto the bank, you could tell that this was certainly not a true Mallard. This bird was very tall and upright, but showing many Mallard traits. The closest I can get is that this may well be a Mallard x Indian Runner Hybrid. There aren't too many duck breeds that stand like a penguin, but this one certainly matches the bill.

A few more Gadwall about today, with 3 pairs counted, no sign of the Shoveler and certainly no Tufted Duck either. In fact the water was very quiet apart from a dozen or so Black-headed Gulls and two Herring Gulls.

Any way here are few images from the Lagoon:

The pair of resident Mute Swans, with the pen on the right keeping a watchful eye out for the interloper......

......who appears to be quite happy to swan around, perhaps waiting for the opportunity to swoon the pen into starting a relationship with him.

Meanwhile on the bank the juveniles are really starting to moult and it wont be long before we have 3 more white swans on the lagoon.

And here it is a very unusual but pretty Mallard hybrid.

It has all the traits of a Mallard...........

........but those feet are.........

......huge.......

.....and this is a very tall duck.......

........which makes me think that it has a bit of Indian Runner in it.

Here is a comparison with a female Mallard.

And here is a comparison with the head against that......

........of this female Mallard.

A lot easier to ID this drake Gadwall. Good to see 3 pairs here today.

Not its usual spot, this Grey Heron must be having a break as it perches several feet above the water.

An adult Herring Gull

And the only other large gull on the lagoon......

........this 2nd winter Herring Gull.

An adult Black-headed Gull. Note head is changing to summer plumage.

A 1st winter Black-headed Gull comes............

........into land.

Just the one Great Crested Grebe seen.

And finally topographers measure the depth of the lagoon, mainly to check the amount of sediment that has built up on the bottom. Not a lot by all accounts.

Birds Recorded: 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 6 Mute Swan (Resident pair, 1 cob, 3 juveniles), 20+ Canada Goose, Mallard, Mallard x Indina Runner hybrid, 6 Gadwall, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, 1 Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow and 2 Goldfinch