Re Covenham's Falcated Duck of January 26

Pete
Thank you for the info about the pond. I think I would take your approach as well.
Jacquie

The pond in question is Laughton's Pond which we pass on a regular basis on our way to Louth. To our knowledge the owner has never had ornamental  wildfowl, so I'm sure the Falcated Duck  did not originate from there. The pond mostly hosts the usual suspects ie. Canada, Greylag, Mallard,Tufted, and sometimes Shoveler. As the Falcated Ducks provenance is 50/50  at the moment and can't be proven either way, I"ve plumped for genuine! 

Regards Pete

When I read the report on RBA I thought it may be the pond attached to buildings on bend in Louth- Somercotes road but I don't know the area that well. It always has some wildfowl on it but not somewhere where you can easily stop and take a look.  Close flying distance to south-east of the reservoir.

The write-up in Rare Bird Alert is here:

The @RareBirdAlertUK birding round-up 24-30 Jan 2023

As far as I am aware, Nick, the ornamental collection is also in the Covenham area. Does anyone know what other waterfowl are on his/her  lakes? 

Obviously Jon Dunn at RBA has been given the info  by someone in the know. 

Interesting.
Is this breeder in old Tetney near the church, right next to the blow wells?
I have often seen strange geese etc through the trees while walking along the river here. It certainly makes sense, considering the wandering Black Swan... who has also been sighted in various local areas too.

There is some informed and amusing speculation by Jon Dunn in Rare Bird Alert about the Falcated Duck that spent last Thursday in the company of Mallard at Covenham reservoir.

He writes: "What to make of it? On the plus side, the time of year feels good, and it seems it was fully winged and unringed. That’s all to the good.

"But the whole Mallard association is somewhat less encouraging. And then the fact that there’s an ornamental wildfowl breeder based just a few fields away as the duck flies from Covenham reservoir, a breeder who boasts Falcated Duck in his inventory… nope, that’s not so good at all."

Is the record likely to be accepted by the British Bird Rarities Committee? 

Perhaps not, concludes Jon, who thinks the two negatives  may "torpedo dead in the water what might have been Lincolnshire’s second ever bird".