With a spell of easterly winds preceding the 19th August, I thought Pannel Valley would be as good a place as any to check — particularly with heady visions of a sunning Aquatic Warbler along the reedbeds edges. Of course that was not to be and instead I bring to you wildfowl of dubious origin!

Despite the promising conditions it was a quiet morning on the Pannel Valley scrape, so I decided to switch focus and do a more thorough sweep for passerines in the surrounding scrub. After checking the usual spots with not much to show for it, I was walking back towards the hide when I saw two striking birds fly in from the east over the scrape: a pair of Ruddy Shelduck.

They flew down onto the scrape out of sight so I started speeding back towards the hide. Before I could get there they were off again and flew over my head before heading back the way they came toward Pett Level. I managed to grab a few dodgy photos of them in flight from directly below.

Researching the possible origins of these birds I was drawn in to the murky world of Ruddy Shelduck listing and their current status in Europe. The species is migratory, breeding in south-eastern Europe and Central Asia, and wintering in South-Eastern and Southern Asia. There is also a resident population in North Africa. The question of escapees has long muddied the water in terms of identifying true vagrants in the UK and the species remains on Category D of the British list.

However, as described in this great BirdGuides article, there is now a population breeding in Germany and Switzerland. There is some uncertainty over whether these birds originate from populations at the edge of their native range in Ukraine or are naturalised feral birds. It may be that genetic studies eventually resolve this question but for now it remains a mystery. Like their Asian-breeding counterparts, the German/Swiss population also migrate, moving to the Netherlands in late summer to undertake their complete moult.

Given the circumstances, these two birds seem a pretty good bet for migrants from the naturalised European population rather than escapes. They arrived after a spell of easterlies, as a pair and in-off (or close to) at a coastal location during the June-September migration period. As you can see from the detail photos, both birds have old growth primaries in poor condition which means they haven’t undertaken their complete moult yet. My guess would be that these are overshoots on their way to the Netherlands to moult, although why they would be on the move so late I’m not sure.