These two marvellous ducks are living wild in Surrey!!! Although they are closely related they occur in different parts of the world. The wood duck is from the USA and the mandarin duck is from Japan, where it is highly endangered. Thankfully there are large numbers of mandarins living wild in the Uk. They are like beautiful swift ghosts when seen at dusk flying down a forest stream. The River Dart in Devon has a breeding population nesting in tree holes high above the rushing torrent. The wood duck is much rarer in the Uk but still common in the USA.
Wow! What gorgeous creatures. They look full of character.
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