Early in the New Year I saw striking images of mandarin ducks posted on wildlife photography sites. Photographers had been going to the River Leven beside Balloch to see this relatively rare duck. So today I went in hunt of them too.
At first I walked alongside the river South of Balloch but only saw a pair of mallards and a goldeneye. So then I retraced my steps and walked the path into Balloch Country Park. Here the river Leven flows out of Loch Lomond. People were feeding bread to about two dozen ducks and in amongst our common ducks were the unmistakable mandarins.
There were about seven colourful males and one greyish brown female. A bit of an imbalance here. I wonder how that will all work out?
The ducks look quite surreal and very oriental. They were originally from the far East and are common in China, Japan, Korea and parts of Russia. However some were brought to Britain and have either escaped or been released into the wild. They seem to get along just fine amongst our native mallards and other species.
The male mandarins are like beautiful works of art. They raise and splay out their amazing head tufts during courtship displays. Now that would be a sight worth seeing!
Next to the mandarin ducks was a pair of goosanders. The male has the dark emerald head and the female a brown crest. Sadly the male had a fishing float attached to its rear feathers. I hope someone is able to free it from this sometime, maybe a park ranger.
It had been many years since I last visited Balloch Country Park. However with spring just around the corner it would be great to go back and see the ducks again.
Sarah's Wildlife Watch 