NORTH AMERICAN WOOD DUCK in COUNTY DONEGAL

Just heard this, thought it may be of interest to the list.An injured male American Wood Duck has been seen near the RNLI Lifeboat Station, Pollawaddy, Arranmore Island, Co. Donegal since last Friday. Injured wing. Not really approachable, but can't fly, spents a lot of time out of sight in a rushy area along the shore. Finder may make an attempt to catch it in the next day or two to take it into care & seek medical/rehab assistance for the injury, but the bird seems very lively (apart from inability to fly). No visible evidence of injury/wound looks otherwise healthy. Seen today & yesterday. Two ferries operate from Burtonport several times a day apparently.Mícheál Casey

I am still sitting on the file of Wood Duck occurrences in Britain and Ireland as records of this species are incredibly difficult to assess. At least 20 records though are considered to be of wild vagrants and I hope to be in a position to list them in the not too distant future. As far as I am concerned, this individual is as good as they are likely to get, especially considering the weather conditions since last September

Lee Evans