Ruddy Duck draws birders to Cheshire reserve

A drake Ruddy Duck has made an unexpected appearance in Cheshire and is thought to be one of few surviving individuals left in Britain.

The bird was discovered by Dan Owen at Woolston Eyes Nature Reserve on Tuesday morning [26 March]. It attracted a steady crowd of visitors during the day, but there was no sign yesterday [Wednesday 27 March], before it reappeared on Thursday [28 March].

It is likely that the British population of Ruddy Duck is now only in single figures. The last publicised sighting involved a drake at Eyebrook Reservoir in January 2023, so the Cheshire bird will prove popular if it reappears.

Many newer birders have never seen a Ruddy Duck, with the eradication programme leaving only a few individuals surviving (Dan Owen).

 

Ruddy Duck cull

An American species, Ruddy Duck became naturalised in Britain after several escaped from the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust headquarters at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, from 1952.

However, a controversial government cull that began soon after the turn of the century led to 6,200 birds (or some 90% of the British population) being shot by 2009. The eradication programme represented an effort to protect the Spanish White-headed Duck population from genetic influence due to hybridisation with dispersing British Ruddy Ducks.

The species became increasingly challenging to find after 2010, with the locations of the few surviving individuals usually suppressed by birders against the cull or uneasy with their sighting likely leading to the arrival of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) shooters.

 

Former hot-spot

One of the former strongholds for the species in Cheshire, Woolston Eyes recorded a mighty 179 Ruddy Duck in 1985 and continued to log the species annually until 2019. Since then, the only other sighting at the reserve involved a drake in summer 2022, a bird which did the rounds at several Greater Manchester sites later that year. Local birders have suggested the latest arrival might relate to this bird.

The Woolston bird is safe from the guns due to the site's sensitive breeding birds and access arrangements.

In 2019, finder Dan Owen wrote about birding at Woolston Eyes. The site offers access via permit.

For all the latest sightings of Ruddy Duck, log on to www.birdguides.com/sightings – or buy a bird news subscription to keep up to speed with observations nationwide.