Since rebooting my river walks (again) I have noticed this guy sitting on the bank of the canal. In fact, in the exact same spot every day. A new addition to the bird life down there as I would have noticed him before with his striking red markings and being more the size of a goose than a duck. So I put this pic on my azahar Instagram asking if anyone knew what kind of duck this was and turns out (thanks Andalucía Bird Society!) that it’s a Muscovy. It’s not native to Spain and the ABS told me it was either an escape from a domestic collection or part of a now feral population.

I’ve actually spotted two of these magnificent beasts on my walks, one by the Triana bridge and this one further along the canal. They seem to have staked out their own territories. But I feel a bit sad for them if they are hoping for a female muscovy to come along. At least the one by the bridge has a nice grassy bank and big shady trees. This guy just sits out on this stony bank all day. As there are two (maybe more?) I suppose they were released here rather than escaped.