I'm Not Pulling Your Shank - There Is A Ruddy Duck! (16 September 1978)

My article referring to Canada geese and thence to birds in general has caused a flutter in my dovecote, so to speak.

The 1930 list of birds in Bletchley which I quoted stands where it did as the only one I knew about.  But I went on to suggest that local experts should get together to collect a more up-to-date one.  And there I made a mistake.  For I have been told that for some time past members of the Milton Keynes Natural History Society have been doing that very thing, and to prove it showers of details have dropped upon my defenceless crest, cap, tuft or poll.

Well, I asked for it, I have got it, and I shall give it.  But first I must say that although I knew a number of people were interested I had no idea there were so many.  I just casually pulled the handle and found I had hit the jackpot.  I suppose the reason is that bird watchers go about their watching so quietly that it becomes second nature and they do not create the sort of song and dance that regularly attracts the attention of the Press.  They leave that to the birds, so to say.

But they have an information officer, Mr. Mike Towns, of Tinkers Bridge, and among a welter of bulletins received from him is one which I think will suit my purpose of giving a more up-to-date list of birds than the one compiled in 1930.  It is an off-print from the society’s Journal for 1977 and is headed North Bucks Bird Report for 1976.  Note: not Bletchley, nor Milton Keynes, but North Bucks as a whole.

The list is in two parts.  The first part goes into considerable detail as to whether the bird is resident, a passage migrant, or what; where and when it was seen; and in what numbers.  The birds in this part are (the paragraphing is my own):

Red-throated diver, great crested grebe, little grebe, Leach’s petrel, cormorant, spoonbill, mallard, teal, gadwail, wigeon, tufted duck, common scoter, pochard, goosander, golden eye, brent goose, shelduck, whooper swan, bewick swan, buzzard.

Sparrowhawk, hobby, Lady Amherst’s pheasant, oystercatcher, lapwing, ringed plover, little ringed plover, golden plover, turnstone, common snipe, jack snipe, woodcock, curfew, whimbrel, black-tailed godwit, bar-tailed godwit, wood sandpiper, green sandpiper, redshank, spotted redshank, greenshank, knot.

Little stint, dunlin, ruff, common sandpiper, avocet, little gull, black tern, common/arctic tern, wood pigeon, turtle dove, collared dove, cuckoo, long-eared owl, short-eared owl, night-jar, swift, kingfisher, bee-eater, green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, wryneck, swallow, house martin, sand martin, hooded crow.

Great tit, blue tit, field-fare, redwing, stonechat, whinchat, common redstart, black redstart, nightingale, grasshopper warbler, reed warbler, sedge warbler, blackcap, willow warbler, chiffchaff, spotted flycatcher, water pipit, pied wagtail, grey wagtail, yellow wagtail, siskin, linnet, redpoll, corn bunting and reed bunting.

The second part is simply designated as “other species recorded” in the area during the year.  They are the Grey heron, greylag goose, Canada goose, mute swan, kestrel, red-legged partridge, partridge, pheasant, moorhen, coot, stock dove, barn owl,  little owl, tawny owl, skylark, carrion crow rook, jackdaw, magpie, jay, coal tit, marsh tit, willow tit, long tailed tit, nuthatch, tree-creeper, wren, mistle thrush, song thrush, blackbird, wheatear, robin, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, gold crest, unlock, meadow pipit, starling, greenfinch, goldfinch, bullfinch, chaffinch, brambling, house sparrow and tree sparrow.

The numbers recorded in the first part range from single samples to an estimated 5000 lapwings at Linford on January 18 and 1,380 mallards at Willen on September 18.

Mr. Towns has also monthly reports for this year.  They include a few species not recorded in 1976, such as the Slavonian grebe, bittern, pink-footed goose, snow goose, and garage.  A red-necked phalarope seen at Willen in July was the first ever recorded in North Bucks and possibly the first in Bucks since 1940.

A great number of the recordings were made at the Willen balancing lake and the August 1978 report thanks the water authority for lowering the water level of the north basin which has made wader-watching extremely interesting, with 18 different species recorded.

And now for a bit of chat, which is more in my line.  Somewhere I have seen a reference to a ruddy duck.  Oh yes, a ruddy duck.  I have heard of a ruddy duck at cricket.  I also know the story of the stage-hand who, when the curtain went up, was found on stage tanking with a theatrical swan that refused to move and was heard to exclaim “What’s up wi’t ruddy duck?”  But not until now have I known that a ruddy duck species actually exists and that you can speak of it freely without being told to watch your language.

And finally, believe it or not, there is a comic term.  A juvenile one was seen at Willen on August 20, I do hope my shank isn’t being pulled.