Natural Selection

juvenile Garganey by Stefan Berndtsson used under Wikimedia Commons licence

Yesterday I was mostly doing proper bird surveys rather than birding for fun. Under the auspices of the new Wintering Bird Survey I did my long-term square at Blackpool Pleasure Beach with the usual mix of gulls, Feral Pigeons and scoter on the sea. I also did the early visit for a square at Little Singleton, which had a bit more variety including both Sparrowhawks and Kestrels.

Mid afternoon I wanted to try and find something a bit more out of the ordinary. It absolutely pelted it down on Saturday around Morecambe Bay, and there were floods all along the A590 as I came back from Barrow. I decided to try and find some locally. The fields near the railway bridge at Todderstaffe often flood so I headed there, and they had done.

Having gone through the gulls here I headed towards home and there was another flood below the road at Fairfield Farm. This one had attracted a few duck, Initially these all looked to be Mallard, but this soon proved not to be the case. As well as ten or so Teal there were half a dozen Gadwall and four or so Shoveler.

And then bingo – a Garganey swam into view through my scope. Garganey aren’t rare, but they are scarce enough to be a highlight of any day’s birding. This was the first one reported anywhere on the Fylde this autumn, and the only records in the spring came from Marton Mere. This one was more subtle than several of the spring birds that were adult drakes.

The pictures below are grim, which is why I’ve used Stefan’s above. I’m still on the ‘crap phone stuck to scope’ set up most of the time, and it shows. The images with the Mallard also in them show the importance of size assessment. Some female Mallard can resemble Garganey in face patterns, but side by side there’s no mistaking them.

And here’s one of a spring drake also near Poulton last spring to make the same point about size.

What was particularly remarkable was that overnight the floor water level had shrunk dramatically, and all the ducks had gone. On Saturday morning there won’t have been a flood at all, Sunday sixty ducks of five species have found it and by Monday the party is over. Blink and you’d have missed it.