Mandarin

A rare visitor to Chard reservoir before 2009.

01/01/80 - Single female. Seen again on 05/01. (HCS)

18/01/00 - Single bird (DL).

08/10/03 - Pair stayed for 3 days (DWH)

13/03/07 - Single male (DWH)

08/07/08 - Single female (DWH)

2009 - Up to 7 from August to November, but elusive and not always present

2010 - 2 on 30/08, 7 on 06/09, 1 on 10/09 and record count 11 on 01/10

2011 - Up to 4 in November and up to 3 in December

2012 - 2 or 3 regularly seen in the winter months with a pair mating on 09/03

2013 - Up to 10+ in November, mostly 1-3 reported throughout the year

2014 - Max 4 on 08/01, also a pair from mid February to end of March. A female Wood Duck was also present, possibly accounting for occasional counts of 3 Mandarins during this same period

2015 - 3 males seen on 09/11 was the only record

2016 - 3 birds on 01/10 was the only record

2017 - A single female on 20/03 was probably this species, but could have been a Wood Duck.

2018 - A female with 2 young chicks was seen from 25/05 to 28/05. This is the first breeding record. No male was seen at that time and the chicks were not seen again after 28/05. Also a pair on 05/03 and 2 males on 12/03

2019 - A pair on 01/10, a single male on 19/10 and 3 birds on 25/10

2020 - One to 3 birds recorded on 12 dates through the year

2021 - One to 3 birds recorded on 13 dates through the year including pairs. Female seen with 2 small ducklings on 31/05 and were seen throughout June with 3 ducklings seen on 28/06 (without female). No male was ever seen with the ducklings

2022 - Up to 5 pairs and record max of 17 birds on 03/10. Successfully bred this year

2023 - Recorded on a massive 178 dates. 15 birds on 29/01, 01/10 and 02/10. No breeding recorded