The high numbers on the River Wharfe at Strid Woods continued from December last year but only achieved a maximum of c20 on 3rd January. Sightings here rapidly tailed off with no birds seen during the next two months, however, a pair seen during April raised hopes for breeding. There were two records of females with young, both with one juvenile and on the River Wharfe. One of these sightings was on 6th June at the Strid (JLT) and the other at Drebley on 15th June (JF), so it is possible they were the same mother and young.

A male lingered at Elland Gravel Pits from January until April and possibly returned in November attracting the company of a second male and a female by 28th December (NK, BS, HBC). Knotford Nook was another site to have Mandarin present when a pair was found on 10th October and two males on 17th October (KM). The final sighting away from the River Wharfe was of four at Otley Gravel Pits on 2nd December (AJ).

The record number of birds seen in Strid Wood towards the end of 2004 was quickly surpassed by a count of 39 there on New Year’s Day (JF). However, the new record lasted only sixteen days, as an increased count of 41 was made at this location on 17th January (JLT).

Numbers of birds continued to be seen in winter and spring in the general area between Bolton Abbey and Howgill. On occasion, as few as two birds were noted (particularly in May), and counts fluctuated between this and 23 birds.

Surprisingly, the riches of the first winter period were not replicated in the second, when the best that could be mustered was a total of seven birds on 25th December. Records of this attractive duck on the Wharfe are proving distinctly enigmatic, and it will be interesting to see how matters progress. Away from this area there were just four records: a bird (possibly semi-resident) at Elland Gravel Pits on 9th and 22nd January, with perhaps the same one at High Royd Sewage Works on 3rd March and another at a private site on 21st March.

Given the number of birds early in the year, breeding success appears modest. A juvenile was seen near Barden Bridge on 19th August, and a pair with young in the same area on 14th June.

The pattern of sightings this year was the exact opposite to 2005, when a record number of birds were seen in the general area of Strid Wood in the early months, but very few in the second winter period.

In the first five months of 2006, Strid Wood (and occasionally the odd site further upriver) produced only single-figure counts of between one and five birds, this maximum being recorded on 1st May, but breeding success was better than the previous year. Three well-grown young were seen in Strid Wood in mid-June, and up to nine juveniles were seen near Barden Bridge on the last few days of the month and in July.

There was only one September record, of three birds, but by late October numbers at this stronghold built up to 13, and were between 16 and 28 on eight dates in November, and with a maximum of 31 birds on the 21st. Numbers had generally dropped below 20 by the beginning of December, but there were still 16 present on the 21st, and 19 on the 1st of the month, which included displaying drakes. The only report away from this general area was of a male on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal near Hirst Wood throughout December, which could have been an escaped or released bird

The fortunes of this bird in the Group area could hardly be more in contrast with the previous one. Until 2001 there was only a handful of records annually, but the 95 reports this year, mainly from the Strid Wood area of Wharfedale, is now the norm.

The first report from that area was on 5th January, when seven birds were seen, followed by many records of up to five adults to mid-May. Numbers then started to build up significantly from early September, with a maximum count of 58 on 30th October, reducing to 14 on 5th December, the last date on which birds were recorded. Birds have wintered in some previous years, and one observer suggested the early departure could be attributable to a shortage of acorn and beech-mast, on which the birds are dependent.

Records also came from the Washburn Valley, where pairs were seen at Swinsty Reservoir in January, and Dob Park between March and May, and there was a male (probably one of the latter pair) at Lindley Wood Reservoir in April. In Airedale, a bird was near Marley in December, and a confiding male (suggesting escape origins) was on the canal between Saltaire and Dowley Gap early and late in the year.

Even allowing for some possible duplication of data, breeding success on the Wharfe appears to be the best on record, as up to 26 young were seen between the end of May and mid-September.