A HOODED MERGANSER has been present in Ipswich for a while but this is the first time I have been able to catch up with it. This species is resident to North America, so the chances are that this bird is an escapee from a wildfowl collection, either that or its an extreme rarity. Anyway it was worth catching up with as this is the first one I have ever seen in the wild, escapee or not. The bird is in eclipsed plumage, that is when a male moults out of its breeding season finery to be replaced with a dowdy brown plumage.
However as I was in town I didn't have my long lens, instead I had just the standard one, so shots are cropped but still very distant. The bird was found on the river where the Bobby Robson footbridge spans across it. This part of the river is still tidal but is also where the salt and fresh water mix and as a result this is where the river Gipping becomes the Orwell. It was canalised in the 1960s, so has concrete sides, but at low tide mud is exposed, as are traffic cones and lots of bikes.
Also present was a COMMON SANDPIPER disturbed from the river bank, and there were lots of juvenile GULLS so it looks like they've had a good breeding season, they nest on the surrounding warehouse roofs.
The bird would linger on in Ipswich, where it would moult into its beautiful breeding plumage. I took these photos at Christchurch Park on the Wilderness Pond.
The bird was very tame and would come right up close to me. I have written another blog about that day.
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