OK don't laugh or throw me a strange look, but ya that's right I have never seen Mandarin Duck in the wild before, until now.
Theses duck are really smart birds even without their very fancy breeding plumage. When I first arrived I spotted five birds on the far side of the bank and then they within several minuets they came off the bank in to the water and closer towards me.
They are charming little birds.
There was not much else on the Mere apart from a dozen or so Mallard and the usual mixed breed domestic ducks and two Grey Wagtail that flew in to a overflow pipe in the side of the wall.