
Argentine red shoveler (Anas platalea) with an itch
I didn’t have many days off over Christmas and New Year and the weather was mostly wet and windy, but we did manage to visit the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust’s Llanelli Wetland Centre this week, on a day that was quite dry but with a cold wind.
We have been there many times before, as we are WWT members, so many of the birds seem like old friends…

Ne-ne or Hawaiian goose (Branta sandvicensis)
The ne-ne was once common, with around 25,000 living in Hawaii when Captain James Cook arrived in 1778. But hunting and introduced predators, such as Asian mongooses, pigs, and cats, cut the population to just 30 birds by 1952. WWT founder Peter Scott brought the geese back from the edge of extinction with a captive breeding programme at his wetland centres and now the birds are reintroduced back in Hawaii.
But they do love it here in the wetland centres. They are so tame that they almost can’t be bothered to eat grain from the ground, but prefer to be fed by hand. They are always the first birds to come running when you step out into the grounds at Llanelli.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

A closer look at its red eye

Male Eider duck (Somateria mollissima) on mud…

…and on the water

Common mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

I couldn’t work out this one, which looked like a young male bird on its way to having a green head – and it looked a lot like a mallard, apart from the chestnut body – so thanks to Annie for identifying it as what some people call a ‘manky mallard’, a cross-breed between a domestic duck and a wild mallard – she says they come in a variety of colours and there are several at Cardiff’s Roath Park Lake

Chiloe wigeon (Anas penelope)

Puna teal (Anas versicolor puna)

Common male shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) – so is that a sheldrake?

Red-crested pochard (Netta rufina)

Splendid Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) seen through a fence

Female smew (Mergus albellus)…

…and male smew, one of my favourite ducks
Then there are the bigger swans and geese…

Black-necked swan (Cygnus melanocoryphus)

Bewick’s swan (Cygnus columbianus)

Coscoroba swans (Coscoroba coscoroba) standing on one leg

Swan goose (Anser cygnoides)

Red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis)

Emperor goose (Anser canagicus)
One bird is in a class of its own…

Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber)
There were a couple of birds I don’t think I had spotted before – or at least I hadn’t “ticked them off” my list…

Male white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) – looks like it has a blocked nose!

Red-billed pintail (Anas erythrorhyncha)

The brown plumage is rather pretty
Then there are the plants…

Red-stemmed dogwood (Cornus)

Pine tree…

…with cones

Rotting apples on a tree

Wind in the treetops

Yellow cap fungi

Pussy willow buds coming through (Salix)

The tree

Last year’s fallen leaves

Fresh yew twigs (Taxus baccata)

Snowberries (Symphoricarpos) hanging on to bare branches

Impressive buds on curved branches – but I don’t know the species

Not sure about this either, unless it is a spindle bush (Euonymus europaea)

Bright gorse in bloom (Ulex europaeus)

Ivy in fruit (Hedera helix)

More reddish treetops

Tree covered in moss, ivy and lichen…

…a closer look

Red berries of a Sorbus, perhaps whitebeam, Sorbus aria? I didn’t think to look at the back of the leaves to see if they were pale…
And finally…

A mosaic of a cormorant on the wall of the WWT building at Llanelli
A lovely selection of colourful birds, Pat. Your mallard lookalike is what some people call a ‘manky mallard’, a cross-breed between a domestic duck and a wild mallard. They come in a variety of colours and there are several at Roath Park Lake, usually congregating around the northern end by the wild gardens.
Thanks so much for that – so I wasn’t far off in my identification, but didn’t realise such cross-breeds existed.
I have added in the information to the caption.
Best wishes đŸ™‚
Gorgeous photos (when I saw ‘the tree’ I wondered if it was your 2018 tree but I think I’m mistaken and maybe relates to the photo above …).
Sorry to confuse! Yes, I have no plan to follow a conifer, but thought this one was interesting enough for a quick mention!
All the best for 2018 đŸ™‚
Crikey, what a great variety of water birds you have there, some of which I had not even heard of, let alone seen. My favourite of them all is the Eider; they look so elegant, as if they had been designed.
I noticed some Hazel catkins yesterday so Spring is not too far off now.
If you think that, you may appreciate an earlier post I did: Eider – a Clarice Cliff among ducks.
Yes, I think Spring is on its way – and the days are getting slightly longer – although “As the day lengthens the cold strengthens”…
Best wishes đŸ™‚
Our grandchildren enjoy visiting Slimbridge, your Blog reminds me we haven’t been for some time. Half term holiday may now see a visit.
Good idea! Slimbridge is much bigger that the Llanelli centre, but Llanelli is nearer for us.
Maybe we must plan another Slimbridge trip, too.
All the best đŸ™‚