RUDDY DUCK carnage continues here despite numbers increasing elsewhere

Defra are still carrying out random killings of Ruddy Ducks in Britain despite the slaying officially ceasing in March 2011. They have a birder mole within their ranks (I know his identity) and he is constantly tipping them off whenever he hears of or sees reference to any birds. Despite their best efforts, some 113 birds still survive and it is hoped that these will continue and prosper once austerity measures ensure the ill-conceived project is stopped for good........

Ridiculing such extreme measures is the fact that some 50 Ruddy Ducks were counted within a flock of 1,285 White-headed Ducks today - with not a hybrid in sight

The pressure for White-headed Duck survival and success will come from habitat destruction and not Ruddy Ducks and it worries me the effects that monetary problems and EU legislation will have on the populations in Iberia and Spain. In recent years, the Iberian population has stabilised at around 330-370 pairs, with an expansion in range to NW Morocco

It was also very interesting to see a photograph of two White-headed Ducks in The Netherlands in February 2010 - attracted to a sizeable flock of Ruddy Ducks (Lee Evans)