Ringed-neck Ducks, London WWT 2021 (1 Viewer)

[Andy Strachan]

Didn't really know where to put this..

Anyway, I was down in London in December 2021 and went to the London Wetland Centre. While there I came across two Ring-necked Ducks. They seemed pretty tame and were only around 10 feet away! I got some ok photo's just from my phone. There doesn't seem to be many records of those birds there or in surrounding area (as far as I can tell using Birdtrack and E-bird) so I'm trying to figure out if this was actually a decent sighting or if they are regulars there. Where I am, they'd be local rarities, but all this time I've assumed that they were regulars there due to how tame they were, but maybe not?
What's your thoughts?

 

[Farnboro John]

They look a bit short in the wing department to me.

John

 

[Andy Strachan]

Surely they wouldn't have birds with clipped wings there, do they?

 

[Farnboro John]

Surely they wouldn't have birds with clipped wings there, do they?

Maybe they got the bus from one of the London parks. They don't look airworthy, anyway.

John

 

[Stephen Dunstan]

Surely they wouldn't have birds with clipped wings there, do they?

They clearly do. The website says so.

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Surely they wouldn't have birds with clipped wings there, do they?

They have an impressive display of all sorts of wildfowl. If you like that sort of thing. They are grouped into areas IIRC, it’s many years since I went. I’m sure the odd Mallard might move in with them but it’s fairly obvious what’s wild and what’s tame. They have sign boards telling you what’s in each pen.