Wildlife highlight: Wigeon
Last week while my parents were away, having been tipped off that a Glossy Ibis had been spotted at my local patch (The Watercolour Lagoons) the day before, I decided to go on a wild Ibis chase! I was feeling low and decided a walk would do me good, it was also a good opportunity to show my carer that day my local wildlife spot. We set off enthusiastically, with telescope and binoculars at the ready.
As we neared the first of the lagoons we were treated to the great sight of a large flock of Greylag Geese, which was good to see. You can see a good number of wildfowl in winter at Watercolour and the surrounding wetland areas. Through the telescope I spotted a lovely group of about 30+ Wigeon, which was my highlight of the day. The Wigeon is a very handsome looking duck with striking head markings of chestnut and golden yellow and a pink breast and smart slate grey back. They overwinter in Britain in their thousands with a small breeding population in the summer. They are easily identified by their distinctive whistle call. My attempt to see the Glossy Ibis was a fail, but I had a lovely afternoon. That's wildlife watching for you, you never know what you are going to see or not see! (I found out later, the Glossy Ibis had only been seen for the one day, so I had sadly missed it.)
Even though I didn't find the Ibis I had a really lovely afternoon adding three species to my local patch list for 2022 (Mute Swan, Egyptian Goose, and Wigeon). It was great to be able to share my passion with my carer and I even bumped into a few people I know and haven't seen in ages due to COVID. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon, it really lifted my spirit!
After an exciting weekend with the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, appearing in the Daily Express (see my Instagram feed!) I am now really looking forward to meeting the YouTuber Joel Ashton of Wild Your Garden this Friday, so look out for next weeks instalment of my Blumire Wildlife Diaries!
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