Mandarin

It had been enough for me to observe a duck perched 20ft above a tree next to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal in Baildon canal this morning.

To my naked eye I could only see the silhouette, but that was a pleasing enough image. Only when I came to review my photos this evening did I realise that this was something a bit different to the usual canal ducks (although the fact that it was perched up a tree should have been enough to clue me in.) Much thumbing of books and scouring of thumbnails later it seemed likely that I'd spied a female Mandarin duck, and some other folk have been kind enough to confirm it.

Apart from the breeding flock on the Wharfe up at Bolton Abbey Mandarins seem not to be that common in the Bradford region and this is the first that I've come across. It would be exciting if this one was looking for a tree hole for nesting, but it's probably a bit early for that and there was no sign of a male. It may just be pausing on it's way through, just as I was this morning.