Ring-necked Duck – Second Record for Stanford Reservoir – or Perhaps Not!

Ring-necked Duck at Stanford

 

Steve Nichols and I have often talked about the lack of Ring-necked Duck records at Stanford, especially given the number of Tufted Ducks and Pochard we get over the autumn and winter. So, with duck numbers down I was delighted when the first bird I got on, in a small group of Tufted Ducks, on Sunday May 3rd was a dapper drake Ring-necked Duck. 

As always, it is worth checking all salient features to remove any doubt of a hybrid. Having rattled off a few record shots, I went about confirming the key features:

• Typical high, egg-shaped head
• Bill grey with white line at the base, broad pale subterminal band and black tip
• Greyish wash to the flanks moving to white at the front

  Same duck, different orientation

I checked the Stanford records and this appeared to be the second for the site, the first being back
in 1978. The late John Cranfield in his “Species Status Comments” in the 'Flora and Fauna' tab on the SRG website references a bird in January / February of 1978 (unsexed) and there is a question mark against it in the species list.
Back in 1978 Ring-necked Duck was a national rarity and required submission to the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC). Having reviewed the 1978 and 1979 issues of British Birds there is no mention of a record at Stanford Reservoir in the accepted or rejected section. I have also reviewed the Birds of Leicestershire and Rutland, the LROS county report and records archive for that year and asked Bob Bullock to check the Northants reports – again nothing listed for this record from any local sources.
So all in all it’s a bit of a mystery. Perhaps an oversight by the observer not to submit the
record (a lesson for us all). The only thing in its favour is that there was an influx of at least
22 birds into the UK between November 1977 and March 1978. However, if I take a purist
approach, BBRC did not receive a description and therefore the 1978 record should be
removed, promoting the May 2026 bird to the first record of Ring-necked Duck for the site.
Chris Hubbard

Return to Ringing in 2026!

 

Jo and Heather taking part in a bit of scrub bashing

After Scrub bashing for the last four months it was great to get back to ringing on the 4th of April. Dawn had already done a session on the Leicester side in late March, catching 10 new birds and 8 retraps just to ease herself back into the swing of things and dust the ringing kit off.

The weather during April has been pretty good and this has been reflected in our best ever total of 272 new birds ringed (our previous best being 213 last year). During this time we also caught 246 birds that we had previously ringed. Of these we had 147 individuals, the best being a nine year old Blackbird, a seven year old Garden Warbler and a six year old Sedge Warbler and similar Whitethroat.

All the way from San Sebastian in northern Spain; a lovely Sedge Warbler

During April we had the first passerine controls of the year, all Sedge Warbler, and all ringed overseas; one from France, one from Jersey and another on the 5th of May from Spain, truly remarkable! Of the 272 birds ringed in April we managed 24 species and of this total only 68 were resident birds that over wintered at Stanford. What's happening to our residents every year? We seem to catch fewer, even with the habitat getting better!

Dave and Mark (from Severn Trent) towing a Tern raft into Blowers Bay

On a brighter note the tern rafts have been refurbished and refloated this last week, so with plenty of Common Terns about we are hopeful of a good breeding season; it would also appear that a pair of Black Headed Gulls have already taken up residence as well, if so this will be a first breeding attempt for Stanford.

MJT