Ruddy Shelduck - do you count 'em?

I'm based in NW England and have seen Ruddy Shelduck at a few reserves in the area but have always assumed they were escapes and not counted them.

Just wanted to check if others did the same or if some birds were accepted as wild (if so, which areas in GB hold the 'real' ones?) or if some listers didn't count them on their British life list but were more relaxed when it comes to counting them on their year lists etc.

When you have Martin Mere on your doorstep you tend to regard suspicious wildfowl with a jaded eye but who knows? Maybe occasionally there really is a wild Ruddy Shelduck out there somewhere (and, even if not, maybe it'll end up end as countable as Mandarin Duck or Little Owl rather than its current Black Swan status (at least as far as I'm concerned).

This is a frequently discussed topic!

See  bubo.org/ruddy-shelducks.html  and  bubo.org/10-general-discussion/1394-ruddy-shelducks-in-bou.html for example.

The upshot is, no, they are not countable on BOU lists at least.

Thanks for clearing it up for me Mike.