Ring-necked Duck, Lee Valley

Prior to 2010, I did the majority of my birding within the Lee Valley and surrounding areas, and now with the lockdown restrictions still very much in place, I have again found myself spending a lot of time birding the lee Valley and particularly the Fishers Green area with early morning visits preferable. 

A visit on Sunday morning at first light failed to find the reported female Ring-necked Duck, but I did manage to add Red-legged Partridge, Grey Wagtail, and Chiffchaff to the year list. Today the Ring-necked Duck was reported again and my daily exercise was spent trying to locate it. Scanning the far bank the Ring-necked Duck came into view. It remained distant among a small group of Tufted Ducks during the visit.

Ring-necked Duck

Since 2012 I've managed to see 11 Ring-necked Ducks, but this was only my second female Ring-necked Duck sighting within that time. The first being back in 2013 at Chigborough Lakes in Essex. 

The year list now stands at 100 

Local Birding Highlights

Daily exercise always involves birding. Several daily walks along the River Roding had produced very little in terms of new additions to the year list. But each walk along the river would see the water levels rising and the surrounding fields getting more and more flooded. 

I've been trying to limit my daily exercise/birding walks with times of the day that would limit the number of people encountered, which has worked well so far. 

A visit to Snaresbrook and Eagle Pond at first light saw me connect with the Caspian Gull before I had crossed the road. Leaving plenty of time to visit Wanstead park before the masses appeared. 

Caspian Gull

After a brief walk around Jubilee Pond, I managed to locate the 1st winter Mediterranean Gull among the numerous Black-headed Gulls. The area surrounding Centre road car park produced two more year ticks with two Lesser Redpoll and a Little owl.

1st winter Mediterranean Gull

After returning home a Sparrowhawk appeared in the garden causing panic among the feeding birds and providing another welcome year tick.

Local Birding for the New Year

Day 1

The new year started with lockdown restrictions still in place. So the usual new year's day trip to Norfolk was well off-limits. With that in mind, It was an early morning visit to my former patch of Fisher's Green in the Lee Valley. I wasn't expecting a big total but after a casual walk around Hooks marsh, Seventy Acres, and the farms I ended the morning with 61 species. A Cattle Egret among the cows at Hall Marsh Scrape, A flock of White-fronted Geese in fields bordering the farms, and a redhead Smew on Seventy Acres Lake were the pick of the species seen.

In the afternoon I returned to Lee Valley hoping the Short-eared Owls that had been on site for a while were still present. Luckily one was showing well when I arrived.

Day 2

There were a few glaring omissions from my first day's birding and with that in mind I visited KGV Reservoir. A quick scan of the south basin produced a female Goosander and several Goldeneye to complete the three winter duck species. The North basin was scanned for any sign of the Red-Crested Pochard pair from yesterday but I failed to find them. Two drake Scaup were found asleep among the Tufted Ducks which was a nice addition to the year list along with two Black Redstarts which were found along the fence line on the opposite side of the causeway. My first record of this species here for several years.

Day 3

A very brief visit to Epping Forest added Mandarin Duck and Nuthatch to the year list. Before spending the morning at Rainham Marshes. I began with a scan from the Serin Mound which added Barnacle Goose, Ruff, Dunlin, Redshank, Shelduck, and Curlew. Aveley Bay had  30+ Avocet feeding along the shoreline and a walk along the path alongside the reserve added the hoped for Water and Rock Pipits. A final scan of the reserve from the sea wall added Snipe, Pintail, and a flyover Rook and a Marsh Harrier drifted across the reserve as I was walking back towards the car park.

My year list after three short days birding stood at 87.