Hannah Coburn
@hannahecoburn.bsky.social
PhD student studying mallard productivity, survival & movement at Essex Uni Life Sciences ARIES DTP | birder | C-permit ringer for 🦆 | she/her 🏴
A huge thanks to everyone involved in #DucklingWatch this year - we received over 950 brood records from across Britain.
See our end of season report at www.essex.ac.uk/research-projects/ducklingwatch for more info.
DucklingWatch will return in 2026 - stay tuned!
See our end of season report at www.essex.ac.uk/research-projects/ducklingwatch for more info.
DucklingWatch will return in 2026 - stay tuned!
October 3, 2025 at 11:32 AM
A huge thanks to everyone involved in #DucklingWatch this year - we received over 950 brood records from across Britain.
See our end of season report at www.essex.ac.uk/research-projects/ducklingwatch for more info.
DucklingWatch will return in 2026 - stay tuned!
See our end of season report at www.essex.ac.uk/research-projects/ducklingwatch for more info.
DucklingWatch will return in 2026 - stay tuned!
Had a great few days at #BESMove2025 - lots of interesting talks and nice to get a chance to share some of my tagging results 🦆
September 4, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Had a great few days at #BESMove2025 - lots of interesting talks and nice to get a chance to share some of my tagging results 🦆
Nice story from one of our campus mallards. I ringed JI last Sept and she began nesting in a plant pot on campus in early May. The clutch hatched at the end of May but there was no sign of her brood - until yesterday when I saw JI on the Colne (1km from campus) with 3 ducklings
June 8, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Nice story from one of our campus mallards. I ringed JI last Sept and she began nesting in a plant pot on campus in early May. The clutch hatched at the end of May but there was no sign of her brood - until yesterday when I saw JI on the Colne (1km from campus) with 3 ducklings
Big thanks to everyone who’s participated to #DucklingWatch for helping us reach 500 records! Please keep sharing and submitting your sightings at citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch 🦆
#birdingUK🪶 #citizenscience
#birdingUK🪶 #citizenscience
May 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Big thanks to everyone who’s participated to #DucklingWatch for helping us reach 500 records! Please keep sharing and submitting your sightings at citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch 🦆
#birdingUK🪶 #citizenscience
#birdingUK🪶 #citizenscience
Duckling season is finally picking up, with new broods appearing every day. Please keep submitting your brood sightings to #DucklingWatch!
Submit at citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch
#birds #birdingUK #ducklings #mallard
Submit at citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch
#birds #birdingUK #ducklings #mallard
May 9, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Duckling season is finally picking up, with new broods appearing every day. Please keep submitting your brood sightings to #DucklingWatch!
Submit at citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch
#birds #birdingUK #ducklings #mallard
Submit at citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch
#birds #birdingUK #ducklings #mallard
Where do mallards nest? Some nest in woods, including our tagged hen “BJ” whose nest we found today, predated but still gives us data on nesting outcomes & habitat 🦆🪺 Thanks to @ecoevoenviro.bsky.social & Mia for their help! A successful afternoon topped off by a red-footed falcon at Abberton
May 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Where do mallards nest? Some nest in woods, including our tagged hen “BJ” whose nest we found today, predated but still gives us data on nesting outcomes & habitat 🦆🪺 Thanks to @ecoevoenviro.bsky.social & Mia for their help! A successful afternoon topped off by a red-footed falcon at Abberton
We have campus ducklings! 11 in the brood, probably just a day old. Don’t forget to tell us about the ducklings you see at citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch
#DucklingWatch #birdinguk
#DucklingWatch #birdinguk
April 25, 2025 at 1:38 PM
We have campus ducklings! 11 in the brood, probably just a day old. Don’t forget to tell us about the ducklings you see at citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch
#DucklingWatch #birdinguk
#DucklingWatch #birdinguk
One of the two intersex mallards currently on the campus lakes!
This occurs when a female duck begins to develop male plumage in response to loss of ovary function.
This occurs when a female duck begins to develop male plumage in response to loss of ovary function.
April 23, 2025 at 11:32 AM
One of the two intersex mallards currently on the campus lakes!
This occurs when a female duck begins to develop male plumage in response to loss of ovary function.
This occurs when a female duck begins to develop male plumage in response to loss of ovary function.
Bit of a new experience for me yesterday - had the opportunity to speak to ITV Anglia about #DucklingWatch
April 9, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Bit of a new experience for me yesterday - had the opportunity to speak to ITV Anglia about #DucklingWatch
The nesting season has begun! One of our campus mallards has made herself comfortable in a flowerbed @universityofessex.bsky.social
March 27, 2025 at 3:01 PM
The nesting season has begun! One of our campus mallards has made herself comfortable in a flowerbed @universityofessex.bsky.social
Any day now, ducklings will begin to appear, and we need your help to monitor them. We are asking for records of mallard broods anywhere in the UK this year to help us understand how many ducklings make it to adulthood. Submit your sightings here: citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch
Please share!
Please share!
March 24, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Any day now, ducklings will begin to appear, and we need your help to monitor them. We are asking for records of mallard broods anywhere in the UK this year to help us understand how many ducklings make it to adulthood. Submit your sightings here: citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch
Please share!
Please share!
Great week at Abberton - two more mallards tagged for my PhD fieldwork and some teal in the traps as an added bonus
March 7, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Great week at Abberton - two more mallards tagged for my PhD fieldwork and some teal in the traps as an added bonus
Good start to the fieldwork season this week - deployed my first tag of the year today which will help me explore the breeding outcomes of mallards 🦆
March 1, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Good start to the fieldwork season this week - deployed my first tag of the year today which will help me explore the breeding outcomes of mallards 🦆
Very nice surprise finding several hawfinches on the Essex Uni campus earlier (a lifer for me!) @essexbirdnews.bsky.social
December 16, 2024 at 6:22 PM
Very nice surprise finding several hawfinches on the Essex Uni campus earlier (a lifer for me!) @essexbirdnews.bsky.social
Had an amazing time at #BES2024. Met lots of great people and heard about lots of cool research. Lovely to bump into so many familiar faces from my Edinburgh days
December 15, 2024 at 1:56 PM
Had an amazing time at #BES2024. Met lots of great people and heard about lots of cool research. Lovely to bump into so many familiar faces from my Edinburgh days
We will soon be launching DucklingWatch, which will allow anyone in the UK to record mallard ducklings. We’re particularly interested in repeat records of individual broods. No matter your expertise, please get involved! You can find more info at www.essex.ac.uk/research-pro... #BES2024 6/6
December 12, 2024 at 4:12 PM
We will soon be launching DucklingWatch, which will allow anyone in the UK to record mallard ducklings. We’re particularly interested in repeat records of individual broods. No matter your expertise, please get involved! You can find more info at www.essex.ac.uk/research-pro... #BES2024 6/6
The peak nesting period was earlier than we expected. Based on ages & dates of brood records, hatching peaked in April, meaning laying began in Feb & peaked in March. This is ~1 month earlier than previous UK studies of mallard breeding (most of which were several decades ago & in 🏴). #BES2024 5/6
December 12, 2024 at 4:10 PM
The peak nesting period was earlier than we expected. Based on ages & dates of brood records, hatching peaked in April, meaning laying began in Feb & peaked in March. This is ~1 month earlier than previous UK studies of mallard breeding (most of which were several decades ago & in 🏴). #BES2024 5/6
We collected data on mallard broods across Essex via fieldwork & citizen science. Broods <1 week old had an average of 6.2 ducklings while broods 2-7 weeks old had means of 3.9-4.7. This pattern is similar to 🇺🇸🇨🇦 studies that suggest most duckling mortality occurs in the first 1-2 weeks #BES2024 4/6
December 12, 2024 at 4:06 PM
We collected data on mallard broods across Essex via fieldwork & citizen science. Broods <1 week old had an average of 6.2 ducklings while broods 2-7 weeks old had means of 3.9-4.7. This pattern is similar to 🇺🇸🇨🇦 studies that suggest most duckling mortality occurs in the first 1-2 weeks #BES2024 4/6
In spring, we deployed 10 GPS tags on female mallards around Abberton Reservoir (Essex). The ducks generally stayed near the reservoir, using wetland & farmland. Only 3/10 of the ducks attempted breeding, likely due to our young-skewed sample & the unexpectedly early breeding peak #BES2024 3/6
December 12, 2024 at 4:05 PM
In spring, we deployed 10 GPS tags on female mallards around Abberton Reservoir (Essex). The ducks generally stayed near the reservoir, using wetland & farmland. Only 3/10 of the ducks attempted breeding, likely due to our young-skewed sample & the unexpectedly early breeding peak #BES2024 3/6
