Out For A Duck

The foreshore fowling season ends on 20 February. Here are nine species that may feature in the bag and on the table

- Mike Swan

1 MALLARD

The mallard is our most familiar duck and the species most studied; the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s investigations into duckling survival are key to our knowledge of wildfowl conservation. Way back in the 1960s, and faced with a “new” wildlife habitat in the form of flooded gravel pits, the Trust worked out that nesting success could be improved using artificial nest sites, but duckling survival was still low.

It became clear that, just as partridge chicks need insects, so do ducklings. Indeed, the peak hatch of wild mallard populations is synchronised with the emergence of midges, so that the ducklings can gorge on them as they break through the surface. The trouble is, most gravel pits have fish that mop up the midge larvae and pupae before they reach the surface, leaving ducklings hungry.

2 SHOVELER

With its huge, spatulate bill the shoveler looks faintly comical. It is specially adapted to filter feed from the water surface, taking planktonic crustaceans as well as seeds and insect larvae. Our modest home breeding population is supplemented by a significant winter influx.

As an apprentice wildfowler, I was told shoveler were poor eating so avoided them. Through membership of the Dorset wild fowlers, and a sub group whose marsh was popular with shoveler and not much else, I decided to give them a try. My first offer resulted in a right and left from a small pack flying low towards me. As the second bird folded the first hit me square in the sternum and I discovered what a dense little duck they are. A taste test against mallard proved that most folk cannot tell which is which.