10/07/16 - Shovelers & Gadwall

Following the hard work of our volunteers helping to repair the swan pipe at North Duffield recently, whilst out on the site with the Environment Agency last week, we were fortunate to find this delightful brood of three Shoveler ducklings feeding in it.

This season is proving to be a good one for ducks so far – as predicted earlier in the year due to the wet spring and late winter flooding. The high water levels restricted access to their chosen nest sites by predators, whilst at the same time encouraging many pairs to linger and remain to breed. The shallow flooding later in the spring then provided great feeding opportunities for the young broods. Over the last few weeks we’ve seen two broods of Garganey (confirming successful breeding), and several broods of Shoveler, whilst up to 50 Gadwall ducklings have been crèched together on the pool at Wheldrake Ings.

So far this season a total of 10 Gadwall ducklings have been caught – taking the total ringed in the valley to over 300, and adding significantly to the knowledge of our British bred birds and their movements. So far these have generated two recoveries to Ireland and a single to France, as well as several within England. We’ll hopefully be adding a few more to this year’s total over the next two/three weeks until the young fledge and start to disperse away from the site.