Mandarins in Essex
Tony Boniface
One of the specialities of bird watching in our county is the sight of this wonderful duck,
the Mandarin Aix galericulata, at Connaught Water in Epping Forest. The accompanying
photograph (see front cover) was taken on a bird-group meeting of the Field Club on
Sunday, 15th February 2004, shows the beauty of its plumage with its colourful sail
erect, which is part of its courtship display.
The Mandarin is a small, long-tailed perching duck with a natural range mainly restricted
to China, Japan and Manchuria. It flies below tree top level and most of the time it
remains close to the cover of trees and bushes avoiding open ground or extensive sheets
of water. In winter in Britain it mainly feeds on acorns, sweet chestnuts and beech mast
although it also eats land snails, insects and fish. Communal courtship peaks in February
and March in poor light conditions at dawn and dusk. The nest site is a hole in a tree up
to ten metres above the ground. The natural hollow is lined with down (Soothill &
Whitehead 1978).
During the last half century a feral population has established itself in northwest Surrey
and Berkshire. The Essex population is mainly based around Connaught Water and
neighbouring pools. Breeding was first reported in 1953 and has continued ever since. It
was formally admitted to the British list in 1971. The birds usually spend the winter on
Connaught Water and disperse to more isolated pools in the forest to breed. Maximum
numbers ranged from 9-31 during the period 1983 to 1994. Breeding in Essex has also
been confirmed at Dagnam Park, around Ingatestone and Margaretting and Tillingham
Gravel Pit. The current national population (1996) was about 3500 pairs (Dennis 1996).
The photograph was taken with a Pentax MZ-30 fitted with a 300mm telephoto lens on
one of the rarer occasions when a bird ventured towards the near bank of the lake.
The bird group would welcome new members to share in our observations of the Essex
avifauna.
References
Soothill, E. & Whitehead, P. (1978). Wildfowl of the World. Blandford.
Dennis, M. K. (1996). Breeding Birds of Essex. The Essex Birdwatching Society.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 47, May 2005
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