The Whitlingham Bird Report for 2023 is now available to download from the Bird Reports page or from here

WHITLINGHAM: Looking for Ruddy Shelduck

Following a morning out I returned home to find an email letting me know about a Ruddy Shelduck at Whitlingham. I considered whether to go and look for it. On one side I hadn't batted an eyelid when two were reported from Marlingford a week or so ago, but once again the "but its on my patch" mentality crept in, so after lunch I went down to Whitlingham again to have a look. Suffice to say it was gone. Birdlife was similar to my previous visit, with the addition of two Goosander, one Oystercatcher and a singing Marsh Tit. I saw the Water Rail again, getting better views as it wasn't dusk!

4 comments:

  1. They are seldom there when I go look either but it just takes one every so often to keep us running, doesn't it?
    nellie

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  2. Indeed. On the bright side it's motivation to get out of the house and look around!

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  3. There are a pair, with six young, on the the river in Norwich!!
    I saw them near Fye Bridge this dinner time.

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  4. Hi, thanks for your comment. Are you sure they were Ruddy Shelduck, that would be rather unusual for Norwich? Egyptian Geese have bred in the city for the past couple of years, could it have been them? Either way its good to have them breeding so close to the city centre.

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