Canvasback – Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Reserve, Welney, Norfolk, 9th March 1997
Having spent several weeks fretting over the missed opportunity of this first (a feeling heightened every time it reappeared and then disappeared again) whilst duplicitously telling myself that I wasn’t really that bothered, opportunity knocked and was then, finally, gratefully welcomed.
I had ‘missed’ the bird when it first turned up because I had been unable to break the journey from South Queensferry at Dad’s, as he was in New Zealand, and the house alarm was on. I was daunted by the prospect of the trip without a staging post, and anyway, I misguidedly thought it would stick.
Unfortunately, it didn’t stick, or if it did, not very well. I had therefore tried to forget it, although it still rankled, despite my feigned indifference.
The sad death of my Grandma, and also my mum’s planned reunion for her long lost brother, meant I had to be in Lancashire for both the funeral of Grandma on the Monday and the party for Uncle Ernie on the Tuesday. I opted to travel to Burnley on the Friday, to take in the Burnley game on the Saturday. By then I was already aware that the Canvasback was back at Welney on the Friday, so began to plan......! I decided that if it was still there on Saturday morning, there would be a good chance on Sunday.
It was there on the Saturday morning and so I attempted to make it known that I intended to (finally) use Chesterfield as a staging post that night for a mission on Sunday morning. Having watched Burnley thrash Peterborough 5.0, I travelled to Dad’s in good spirits for what proved to be a frugal evening and early morning. I set off to Welney at 07:15, and after an excellent drive I arrived by 09:15. Even better, just 45 minutes into the journey, the pager informed me that it was still there – so dispelling my fears of a dip of colossal proportions, due to its erratic behaviour on previous occasions. I’d no idea how long the journey would take but I did know that the reserve didn’t (officially) open until 10:00. As the journey progressed it became obvious that I was going to be there some while before this. To be sitting in the car park waiting for the reserve to open, whilst it could fly off at any moment was going to be less than calming.
When I got there at 09:15 I was relieved to find that people were already going up the walkway towards the hides. It was already open! Having visited the toilets, assembled my gear and purchased a permit, I rushed to the hides where I had been informed there would be a warden who would probably have the Canvasback staked out. I arrived in the large showpiece hide to find lots of other birdwatchers looking out at c.500 - 600 Pochard, plus a large assortment of other wildfowl. They obviously had it, but I didn’t want the embarrassment of asking where it was, and equally wanted the challenge of looking for it myself. And find it I did, very easily, quickly and flukily! I watched it for a few minutes at a reasonable range as it swam around in the company of male Pochards, making a useful comparison. Birders were coming and going all the time and some new arrivals asked nobody in particular where the Canvasback was, so I obviously quickly obliged them. At which there was mild consternation from everyone else in the hide as they hadn’t been on it after all!
As soon as I had given directions it began moving towards an island where it then climbed out of the water and then walked to a suitable spot amongst all the other roosting wildfowl where it rested and preened, often obscured for long periods by, in the main, Whooper Swans. This proved to be the pattern for at least the next hour or so. Occasionally, it would move on when disturbed by other Whooper Swans coming to rest on the island. When this happened it was notable that the Canvasback had a very upright carriage with its legs a long way back on its body compared to other ducks. More frequently, but still not that often, it would just look up, and on such occasions, its long, thin, dark bill and peaked head shape were very apparent.
It was good fun directing people to a bird amongst hundreds, which if they got there was then totally obscured. In between checks to make sure it was still roosting I was able to check out Lesser Snow Goose, Tundra Bean Geese, Bewick’s Swan, Black-tailed Godwit, etc., some good birds! Finally, just when I was thinking of leaving as I was conscious of the time it suddenly returned to the water, and began swimming around in a sexually crazed manner, closely following a female Pochard, and displaying by vigorously throwing its head back.
Having watched this for some while, I left after what had been an excellent two hours.
The Canvasback was bulkier than the accompanying Pochard, with a longer neck. The head was a rich chestnut brown, and the flanks and back a very light grey, darker and lighter respectively than male Pochard, to which otherwise it was superficially similar. It had a black breast and undertail coverts slightly less extensive than male Pochard. Smudgy dark brown areas between and on folded wings were noted (mainly the rump and back, and wing-tips and coverts) some of which were perhaps indicative of a first calendar year bird. The all-dark bill and general head profile were very distinctive. It also had all-dark legs. It also appeared to have orangey-yellow eyes and tapering black lines running from the upper breast to the sides of the neck.
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