Majestic Mandarins

Today I went to Rainham and saw that a female Ring Ouzel had been reported near the Serin mound so made my way to the area and searched with a few others (including Dave the hat beard) but found no sign of the bird. There were at least five male Wheatear on the tip slopes viewable from the mound and several Blackbirds and Redwings along with a Song Thrush in the bushes but the Ouzel had gone into hiding or moved on so I made my way over to Strawberry Pond in Loughton to take advantage of the light and try to get myself a couple of decent shots of the resident Mandarin Ducks there.

Mandarin Ducks (Male and Female behind)

Drake Mandarin

Mandarin Duck

Mandarin (Aix galericulata)

It remains bitterly cold despite the blue skies but it feels like the migrants are just starting to return and I'm looking forward to a good April. At the end of April last year I had 41 birds on my year list that aren't yet on this years list so I should reach my target of 25 in April with some comfort. (mind you last years list includes Dark Eyed Junco, Paddyfield Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Western Sandpiper, Spanish Sparrow to name but a few that I'm sure will be harder to find or even impossible by the end of April this year.)

I took a couple more shots of the Blackcap in my garden this morning feeding on my apple tree (technically a Buddleia with apples spiked on it) and noted that he's started to sing today.

Male Blackcap