Ducks bring a splash of colour

MANDARIN ducks are busy again, with a great deal of display going on between them and at least five pairs coming in.

No matter how often I see them – which means every day from my study window – they never fail to enthral me. Unlike previous winters, this year the birds came in right the way through – probably a reflection of how mild winter was this time round.

In previous winters they have gone for a few weeks, their disappearance generally coinciding with the pond freezing over and when the nearby River Nairn is also affected by ice. Where they go is a mystery, although Loch Ness or the River Ness seem safe bets. But there never seem to be any reports of them, yet they are not really birds you could easily miss – especially the males.

In the past few days the mandarins have been investigating their potential nest boxes, including one in a larch tree just below my study window. Even as I write, two females have been investigating the box, and this year I’m hoping they will nest there.

The ducks come up to feed every day on the mixed grain spread under the bird table. Sometimes they actually fly onto the bird table to feed, affording superb views as the table is only a few yards from the house.

As for the nestbox, I have just taken some photographs of a female looking out. You can see what the bird looks like in the photograph, peering out of the box at the attentive male below.

This is one of the series of nest boxes two of us have put up in this strath in the last few years. I started it off some years ago, mainly for the mandarins.

But in more recent years they have had competition, with other birds taking over the boxes. It really does highlight the fact that old trees and natural holes are few and far between as trees and woodland are "tidied up". The mandarins have to compete with tawny owls, goosanders and jackdaws.

Tawny owls have the advantage over the mandarins in that they nest early, and by the time the ducks choose a site, young owls may well be in an advanced stage of incubation. It will be interesting to see what happens this year. In our immediate area no owls have been calling this winter, which is very unusual.

So the ducks have at least one less contender.

Much as it is fascinating to see the females in or near the nest boxes, it is the males that steal the show with their outstanding plumage. As I write I can look down at the pond and see three males. They occasionally have a fight – sometimes quite violent.

One of the outstanding aspects of the plumage are the two inner-wing feathers that are unique in shape and size – bright orange with an iridescent blue sheen on one of the outer edges. They are called "sail" feathers.

Over the years I have tried to find these and have several in my mini-collection. One always sticks in my mind. I had been idly watching a male on the dam at the outlet of the pond when suddenly it was disturbed.

As it flew off one of the sail feathers fell and I watched it spiral down. I was halfway through my study door before it reached the ground. The triumph of holding it aloft was quite child-like!

RECORD OF THE WEEK

Curlews make a welcome return to the strath

THE record of the week must be the curlews that have moved back into the strath.

They are calling around the house in the fields down towards the River Nairn and beyond.

No doubt this is being repeated in many other glens and straths throughout the Highlands.

These birds may not have been in the Highlands this past winter.

The birds will move from their breeding grounds to the coast late in June. Many of them then move west to Ireland and their place along the coast is taken over by birds from Scandinavia.

The birds I can see and hear every day, and during the night, have always been special.

The reason goes back decades. It was in the 1960s when I first came on holiday to the Highlands from Northamptonshire.

We used to drive overnight and the traditional brief stopping point was on the border to celebrate reaching Scotland.

It was on a lonely area of moorland and there was a farmhouse close to the road.

Every year we would hear curlews calling around the farmhouse.

I always thought it must be magical to hear curlews calling and breeding around the house.

Never did I think in my wildest dreams that I would ever be in such a situation.

This is why, for the past 25 years of living in this strath, the curlews every spring have been of particular significance.

I never fail to be moved by their plaintive and evocative calling.