Mandarins in Essex
Graham Smith 48 The Meads, Ingatestone, Essex CM4 0AE
It was of interest to read Tony Boniface's article on Mandarins in Essex in the May 2005
Newsletter. As he mentions in his article, the main breeding population in Essex is centred
on Epping Forest, in particular the area around Connaught Water. These birds are thought
to be an extension of the feral population that became established at Virginia Water in
Surrey during the 1930s and which have slowly spread out from there.
The birds at Ingatestone and Margaretting, which he mentions, have a different origin
however. Rosemary Upton, who lived at Coptfold Hall, Margaretting, was president of
the Essex Bird Watching & Preservation Society (as it was then called) for many years.
She had quite a large collection of ornamental wildfowl, among which were many
Mandarins. Soon after she died, in the late 1980s, Mandarins began appearing in the
Ingatestone area for the first time. Along with them came several Wood Ducks, of which
she also owned a good number. The latter bred in the area in 1992 - the first such record
in Essex - but, alas, the site chosen, The Hyde Lake, was patrolled by a 13lb pike and the
ducklings didn't last very long. The Mandarins thrived, though, up to 31 being recorded
during the early 1990s, their favourite haunt being a series of four ponds at Harding's
Farm, Mill Green. Numbers have gradually dwindled since then; not, I believe, because
they have failed to breed but because they have spread out over a much wider area. I still
regularly record them from woodland ponds in the Highwood/Writtle area and in 2004
encountered a pair at a small pond at Tye Hall, Roxwell.
As Tony mentions they have specific requirements with regards to both food and nesting.
The former is no problem but finding adequate nest sites close to suitable shaded
woodland ponds is. One of their favourite haunts are the old clay pits on Mill Green
Common, where I flushed a creche of 23 newly hatched ducklings and three adults in
June 2003. When these are dry in summer, as they were this year, they are forced to use
less favourable sites, one female choosing an ivy-covered oak pollard alongside a derelict
farmland pond at Dawes Farm. When disturbed, the ducklings have a habit of exiting
the pond en masse, along with their mother, leaving a surge of water in their wake as
they flee into the surrounding vegetation. A couple of days before writing this I was
witness to this behaviour by a brood of eight half-grown ducklings on the old gravel pits
at Beggar Hill. It is very amusing to watch, although to them of course it must seem a
matter of life or death.
During the 1960s Mrs Upton also had a flock of free flying Budgerigars at Coptfold
Hall. They had the run of the estate during the day but returned to an aviary to roost at
night. It was only possible because Sparrowhawks were so rare in Essex in those days.
One morning I was cycling towards Park Lodge, where she lived, on my post bike when
14 Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 48, September 2005