It occurred to me recently that I’ve still been missing something rather obvious - as the majority of visitors to 10,000 Birds are based in the US and I’m based (at least part of the year) in the UK, I really ought to be taking more photos of birds that I see regularly that birders in the US see only once every so often if at all. Three rather obvious candidates are three species of ducks that I can see relatively easily (in the winter anyway when they visit the UK in large numbers): the Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope, Common Pochard Aythya ferina, and the Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula.

The three species are often found together, though the wigeon (like its American counterpart A. americana) feeds mainly on grasses it finds by grazing on land while both the Pochard and Tuftie are diving ducks that spend most of the day out on the water. I can see all three at a number of sites fairly close to where I live but undoubtedly the best two are Slimbridge (headquarters of the world-renowned Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) and Chew Valley Lake (a huge man-made reservoir outside Bristol).

So, how about starting this trio of posts by looking at the Eurasian Wigeon? These photos were taken on a trip I made to Slimbridge last month (which I didn’t blog about as I was saving it for a post on - er, Eurasian Wigeons)…

Eurasian Wigeons, Slimbridge feeding on seasonally-flooded meadows (the dark birds in the foreground are mainly Jackdaws Corvus monedula, and note the Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata flying top right)

Eurasian Wigeons are similar in size and bulk to American Wigeons (a little smaller generally but there is considerable overlap), and the small number of UK breeding pairs (approx 300-500) are hugely augmented by winter visitors from Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia: at their peak as many as 400,000+ will be in the UK.

At Slimbridge Eurasian Wigeon start arriving early in the winter and numbers often reach 3000+. They feed mostly on the short grass areas between the River Severn and the Headquarters itself, but are often spooked up by hunting Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus and Northern Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus when entire flocks lift up and seek sanctuary on the flooded areas in front of the main hides when good views are more or less guaranteed!

(The other species in this photo? Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus)

Note the yellow forehead blazes, striking white bellies and black-and-white specula on these flying birds (which were put up by a passing Sparrowhawk). This species also shows grey axilla and underwings unlike the whiter underwings of A americana.

Pair of American Wigeons A. americana, Bolsa Chica (California), December. Note whiter underwings than A. penelope

 

A typical flock of adult Wigeons, though note the bird lower centre which is a male moutling out of eclipse plumage.

 

Unlike most ducks in the UK Eurasian Wigeons will soon drift back onto the land to feed (note the male Common Teal Anas crecca feeding mid-left in the photo above).

 

Note that typically a small number of male birds will show a greenish wash to the ear-coverts. This doesn’t appear to be linked to hybridisation.

All photos copyright Charlie Moores 2008. (Don’t forget that we have plenty of other photo-galleries like this online already - have a look at 10,000 Clicks for the full list)