Beautiful Mandarin duck in Grantham prompts lots of readers to take snaps
Several readers have sent in their pictures of a rare Mandarin duck spotted on the River Witham through Grantham's Wyndham Park in recent days.
Amanda Adebisi captured him on camera. She said: "He was quite feisty and knew how to get his bread before the other ducks."
Stefan Pcola took his daughters Anna, 3, and Gabriela, 1, to the park and the girls were delighted to see the bird. Stefan said: "It was lovely to see girls shouting ‘Daddy, look! Isn’t it beautiful!’, as well as the perfect Mandarin."
Lauren Edley said: "I have one that visits my garden. Such beautiful colours."
Meanwhile, Julie Pigott, from Sheffield, saw the story on the Journal website and wanted to share her picture. She said: "I live in Sheffield and took a picture of one at Endcliffe Park in March of this year as was so beautiful."
According to The Wildlife Trusts, the Mandarin was introduced from the Far East, as its name suggests. Oddly for a duck, it nests in trees, sometimes high above the water.
It can still be found in China, Japan, Korea and parts of Russia, while in the UK it is more often found in parts of South East England, North England, Wales and Scotland.
The trust says: “It escaped, or was deliberately released, from captivity in the UK. Mandarin ducks are actually quite shy birds, often hiding beneath overhanging willows and usually only forming small flocks.
“A beautiful, unmistakable duck: male mandarins have elaborate plumage with orange plumes on their cheeks, orange ‘sails’ on their back, and pale orange sides; females are dull in comparison, with grey heads, brown backs and white eyestripe.”
