30 OCTOBER 2026 - MANDARIN DUCK (DRAKE)

A friend of mine mentioned that he’d seen an adult drake Mandarin Duck associating with Mallards, along the River Stort, in the Centre of Bishop’s Stortford Town; so, I duly went along to see if I cold find it.

I’d seen an adult drake (albeit in eclipse plumage) along the Stort myself at Walbury Estate along the river from Thorley Wash Nature Reserve in May of this year, but it was extremely wary and kept very much in the scrub and was therefore difficult to observe and even photograph; so maybe the bird seen in the Town was the same individual.

I did indeed find the Mandarin which was still associating with Mallards (and one female in particular, seemingly following it around as it swam away), and initially it seemed reluctant to leave the edge of the bank, where I guess it was slightly sheltered. But eventually, as the Mallard moved away, the bird swam out and became fairly easy to photograph as a consequence, with no inhibitions displayed by the Walbury Estate drake.

Its origins are possibly dubious, but the species has spread into the Stort catchment area and indeed has bred quite successfully in the Harlow area, so now could arguably be classed as being ‘wild’ especially as they can remain quite reticent, and very wary. Here is a selection of the photographs taken.