Before the end of winter, I always spend some time looking at the wildfowl, once the floods have started to recede on the lower reaches of the River Derwent. Historically, this flood plain has always been a great wintering place for large numbers of ducks, together with varying numbers of swans and geese. There are several venues along the course of the river, and my first choice today was the village of Aughton. The floods are still quite extensive and a 'scope is essential, as the birds can be at considerable distance. On arriving I was lucky to find 2 Whooper Swans were pretty close to the near bank. Scanning this area produced many (hundreds) of Wigeon, Pochard, Teal and around 30 Tufted Duck. Among the tufties were 5 Scaup (2m, 3f). Pintail numbered around fifty here, and 14 Shelduck were on the far bank. 6 Mute Swans and 4 Greylag Geese were also close by. Where the floods have receded, the fields held large flocks of Lapwings, and Golden Plover could be seen flying with them. 2 Common Buzzards passed through and in nearby trees, a Tawny Owl called and a Woodpecker was 'drumming'. Moving on to the next village of Ellerton, the wildfowl numbers increased greatly. 77 Whooper Swans were here, but no sign of any Bewick's today. Around 120 Pintail were seen, 2 male Shovelers and again, huge numbers of Wigeon. In the fields on the far side of the floods, I was looking at a much larger flock of Shelduck than at Aughton. Nearer 50 birds were here and I was surprised to see a Ruddy Shelduck was with them. (Centre of picture, just!!) Finally, I had a look at Bubwith bridge and North Duffield but there was nothing different to what I had seen elsewhere. The floods below the bridge had a very impressive number of Pintails - too far off to count. The flood plain from North Duffield.
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