Like Lapwing, the Wigeon (Anas penelope) is another bird I don’t see very often in my home environment. We get a few occasional Wigeon drop in at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park but they don’t usually remain very long. And, having seen them spending a lot of time grazing in very shallow water and on low grassy areas adjacent to the water at RSPB Lodmoor, I can understand why – Cosmeston simply doesn’t have undisturbed areas where the hundreds of local dogs wouldn’t be able to get to them.

So, as with the Lapwing, it was a real treat to see so many of these handsome birds at Lodmoor. The rich chestnut head and grey upper body of the male Wigeon is a particularly attractive colour combination.

I don’t recall hearing them make any noise (though that may be because their sound was drowned out by the other birds) but the name Wigeon is thought to have been derived from their whistling call. Other vernacular names – whew duck (Northumberland); whewer, whim, whistler (eastern England) – are also imitative of their call, according to Buczacki in Fauna Britannica. Here’s a link to their call on the RSPB website, if you fancy a listen.