Arctic Wildfowl (Photo special)

The London Wetland Centre is an excellent place for wildfowl conservation. From anywhere in the city you can hop on a tube train, then a bus, and you are at an oasis for ducks, geese, swans, waders, birds of prey, and a whole host of other birds, not to mention other wildlife too. For me, the part where the Centre really shines is its World Wetlands collection. There are 14 sections in which one or more species of wildfowl (the term includes all ducks, geese, swans, whistling-ducks and the magpie goose) are kept according to their habitat and distribution. In the Australian section, for example, are black swans (Cygnus atratus), maned ducks (Chenonetta jubata), hardheads (Aythya australis) and magpie geese (Anseranas semipalmata).

The three birds I have chosen to profile here are kept in two different sections, but are all naturally found in Europe, especially the northern parts, hence the name for this post, "Arctic Wildfowl".

Bewick's swan

Cygnus bewickii (Yarrell, 1830)

Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

London Wetland Centre

October 2008

The Bewick's swan is one of three species of swan to be found in Britain: the ubiquitous mute swan (Cygnus olor) is resident year-round, but the whooper swan (C. cygnus) and the Bewick's swan are winter visitors only, breeding in the high Arctic. The Bewick's swan is the smallest of the three; it is sometimes referred to as a subspecies of the more widespread tundra swan (C. columbianus).

Above three photos:

Common eider

Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758)

Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

London Wetland Centre

January/October 2008

Top photo: adult male

Middle photo: subadult male

Bottom photo: adult female

Most people have heard of the eider in the context of its feathers; it is the soft down feathers that the female eider uses to protect her eggs that are harvested for use in pillows. Eiders are found year-round in the UK but is more numerous in winter when arctic birds migrate south, congregating especially around the coasts. Eiders make the most unusual sound for a duck, reminiscent of old ladies going "oooh" at something.

Above two photos:

Common goldeneye

Bucephala clangula (Linnaeus, 1758)

Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre
October 2008

Top photo: adult male not yet in breeding plumage

Bottom photo: adult female

With a name reminiscent of a 90s Bond film and the theme tume from it, the goldeneye is a species of duck from across the northern hemisphere, especially in areas of boreal forest (evergreen conifers). In Scotland it is present year-round, breeding in Scots pines and other such trees, while it is a winter visitor to reservoirs and large lakes in the rest of the UK. Males have the distinctive golden eye, with a glossy green head and black and white body plumage, while the females have a more subdued dark brown head and a white eye.