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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

White-headed Duck at Salthome pools. (1 Viewer)

Isn`t it considered likely that this bird (which was previously present at Broadwater - any other explanation is very unrealistic) is the same adult male which arrived in June 2002 (I remember dashing for that bird after work - wasn`t really any hurry was there!) was then seen at a couple of East Midlands sites, then at Shardloes lake, Bucks before turning up in the London area?

This particular bird arrived in Britain during a period of extremely hot and dry weather over Britain and Europe - the possible explanation being that the Spanish White-headed Ducks are dispersive rather than migratory and their moves are related to dry/hot conditions.

Length of stay is absolutely no indicator either way of a bird records credibilty - look at the old Uist Stellers Eider or any of the current Scottish King Eiders or Surf Scoters for proof of that - something that would also tie in nicely with the birds dispersive rather than migratory tendancies.
 
oh the old chestnuts are the best....

can be summed up like this: unless it's got a ring on you will never know for sure....all else is speculation.

I remember the one near me at Hardley Flood, Norfolk....loads of people went for it - if it was gen then it was the only duck on that water that didn't look like it had come out of a farmyard! Which means nothing of course......

Have any WHD that have occurred in UK got decent credentials for acceptance? Probably not....Spanish pop is very small...do the eastern birds from Turkey have a reputation for moving west into Europe - any ringing recoveries?
 
The small influx into the UK in Autumn 2003 coincided exactly with a similar small influx of birds into Northern Spain, Southern France, Southern Germany etc....

So unless the argument is that across Europe - but only in locations which would give the creduluous reason to believe the birds might have Spanish origin though, small numbers of White-headed Ducks simultaneously escape from captivity - but not just unpinioned juveniles mind, a mix of juveniles and adult birds - and coincidently the timing of this geographically dispersed "mass breakout" coincides exactly with the timings of the wild Spanish birds annual post-breeding dispersal then the birds which pitched into Britain, France, Spain etc are wild White-headed Ducks from the Spanish Population, their usual and annual dispersal perhaps being more nomadic than usual because of the well publicised heatwave which affected France and Southern Europe at that time.

Make a judgement - which seems more likely?

What that says for the current bird is a different question - there are pro`s and cons for it - but pure common sense says that last years birds were overwhelmingly likely to be wild in origin.
 
Hi Jason,
looks like there could be a case made there. Seems quite convincing to me. Unfortunately we don't know the full picture and this will probably disuade BOURC from accepting one. To play devil's advocate for once....

problem is ducks get out regularly and are only selectively reported in bird reports and these figures are often used unscientifically. Remember the stats used in BW recently with regard to Cinnamon Teal? I remember a BF member wrote to say he had recorded (what he considered escapes from somewhere nearby) Cinnamon Teals in his local area a few times.....these birds for example never made the stats. Only needs one of those to go wandering and turn up somewhere west coast and hey presto! It's a wild bird.....did birds appear in other countries but not get reported? Very hard to know! How many are kept in North European countries? Were those in France etc taken more seriosly/focussed on because they give weight to the theory? Is there a historical precedent? The small population makes it a little suprising too....

So many unknowns make it hard for BOURC to make a decision. And it's very difficult to backtrack once one has been made.

For what it's worth I think i agree with you....!
 
Ah! Tim I was just about to mention the Cinnamon Teal. I guess serious tickers wouldn't like my list at all. I have Cinnamon Teal on mine from when one turned up last year by Ovingham, Co. Durham on a lake miles from anywhere - well the A66 runs alongside it. It kept moving between two ponds and stayed for several weeks.

It was living wild so I added it to my personal list. I even have Barheaded Goose as well ;)

A birder watchers list is a personal thing. I agree though that for a serious list everyone has to work to the same standard and what is judged to be on the British List. Birds like the White Headed Duck on Saltholme will always be contenscious.

I don't have a problem with such things.
 
Good summary's by Jason/Tim/Ian

Jason
Just for my own piece of mind.
You believe this bird to be a gen.vagrant which arrived in Southern England, visited a few sites before its Broadwater stay, then moving to Tees-side ?

Tim/Ian
Ive a drake Cinnamon Teal from Durham City '97, not too far from the collection at Washington wildfowl & wetlands centre.

Ian
Ive also got a Bar Headed Goose too!
Seal Sands mid-late '80's bitterly cold March day, it arrived with 2 Avocets.
I can remember being excited about it as i'd heard of a feral population in Sweden.

Steve.
 
StevieEvans said:
Ive also got a Bar Headed Goose too!
Seal Sands mid-late '80's bitterly cold March day, it arrived with 2 Avocets.
I can remember being excited about it as i'd heard of a feral population in Sweden
Click to expand...
Hi Stevie,

I got a bit excited about one that turned up at East Chevington on spring passage 3 or 4 years ago, as I'd read that too - but I made the mistake of posting a request for info on surfbirdnews, and it turned out that there isn't any feral population in Sweden, or anywhere else. That seems to be a myth, or else any they did have, died out long ago

The claim about the Swedish feral population is in the old edition of Heinzel, Fitter & Parslow; just checked, they've dropped the claim from the new edition

Michael
 
What have I started here?.

Many thanks to all who gave me help, and a big thanks to the birder present (didn't get his name!) who showed me how to access the other pools in the area, as the bird was on one of these, hiding for about an hour.

I know it's a personal thing but I've ticked it!.

Once again "Many thanks".
 
Think the problem with WH ducks is the same as it was with Ruddies i.e. that they typically breed in captivity in densely vegetated ponds from where it's very difficult to pinion the kiddies before they fly, leading to apparent small influxes. There's certainly an upturn in records of apparently 'wild' birds, but these could either, I guess, be from the increasing Spanish population or from the increasing captive population. Now ruddies are require so much more paperwork, collections are increasingly using WH ducks, so a greater source of captive birds to escape. A bird with a Spanish ring would be nice, but there are no ringing recoveries at all for this species, from anywhere!
 
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