A bird watcher tipped off at 2:30 p.m. last Thursday that the mandarin duck was at Västanfors church in Fagersta where they feed mallards in the winter.
– I left everything and was there after five minutes. The next day it was gone so it may have flown on, says Pentti Korhonen, 67, at the Nature Conservation Association in Fagersta, who saw the bird species once before, about ten years ago in Avesta.
The colorful crab was not shy so he could see with close-ups that it was ringed. According to the Ringmarking Centre, the male was ringmarked in Poland in 2017, is seven years old and has been seen in Dalarna for the past two years. In March it was seen in Nora.
The mandarin duck originally from East Asia
The mandarin duck is originally from East Asia and came in the 18th century to parks and gardens in Europe. After escapes, it was found in the 1990s in a wild state in the Netherlands and England. It is now found in several European countries but is uncommon in Sweden.
Anders Wirdheim, 72, has previously for 26 years been a hired expert at the Swedish Ornithological Association. He estimates that there are around 20–30 mandarin ducks in Sweden.
– So it is not unique, but it is rare, he says about the bird sighting in Fagersta.
“The cameras were rolling all the time” – hears Pentti Korhonen about the uproar when the smacking male showed up.
Pentti Korhonen was overjoyed to see the rare bird in his hometown of Fagersta and is a dedicated bird watcher in the Nature Conservation Association. Photo: Private