AS I type this, there are mandarin ducks below me on the large pond in the garden.

To be precise, 25 of them and I looked through the binoculars a short while ago to see which sex and the ages they were. Ten of them were males that are moulting into their autumn plumage.

Five of the birds were juveniles, so they must have hatched this year, and the rest were adult females.

Mandarins always interest me at any time of the year but at this time the moulting males are almost funny to look at. The reason is that when they are at this stage in their moult they look really scruffy and almost amusing and I am sure they even look miserable.

It is difficult to imagine that within a couple of weeks or so the males will be in their adult breeding plumage in all its finery, with the mixture of colours set off by the large orange feathers sticking up from each side and nicknamed "sails".

So what has happened to these mandarins in this strath this year and have they bred successfully and where? What this breeding season did was throw up a mystery which we still have not solved.

Let us start with last winter which gave us the worst weather we have experienced in the 24 years we have been here.

Unlike other years when the mandarins have just gone for the latter winter months, we know not where, this year they stayed all through the bad weather, no doubt often resorting to the River Nairn only a field away from the garden.

When the spring came we were pleased to see around 10 pairs on the pond and the river combined. We looked at all the goldeneye style nestboxes we have erected in this part of Strathnairn and awaited with bated breath.

There is some competition for these nestboxes between the mandarins, tawny owl, jackdaws, occasional starlings and one year even a pair of barn owls. The goosanders will certainly dominate and have been known to oust a sitting female mandarin and then lay its eggs on top of the others. The jackdaws often do the same, as do the tawny owls.

I have two of the nestboxes that I can see from my study window and to my delight both were investigated early on by the mandarins and the one closest to my study by a female goosander, although very briefly with, as far as I know, only one visit.

I have photographs of mandarins going in and out of both boxes and with the closest one, only erected last year, of two females inside the box and one male outside on the roof. Mandarins are like that.

Tawny owls are early nesters, so we looked early in the nestbox in the beech tree in the garden, but nothing. Then when the mandarins should be on eggs, we looked at all the others except one. One had a jackdaw on eggs and the others were empty, as there was not a trace of material of any sort.

The one we had not looked at was the one just below my study and I can see it as I write as it is only about 20 yards away on the side of a larch on an island in the pond. There was no need to check it as I could see the birds going in and out.

When I did check, it was empty - not even a leaf or twig. Why so many birds are absent, we still have no idea. We thought of pine marten or mink, but surely if any bird had even started building a nest there would have been some material left after the bird was predated.

Interestingly, there were reports down the river of female mandarins with young so where did they nest?

Handbook is a vital tool for helping garden wildlife

THE highlight of the week was the latest Handbook of Garden Wildlife Autumn/Winter 2011 from CJ Wildlife in Shropshire.

If you want to know anything about gardening for wildlife, then this is the handbook you need and it is free.

This time it consists of 124 pages and covers not only birds but a range of other wildlife from butterflies to bats and hedgehogs to wild flowers.

With so many varieties of food and containers, let alone identification aids, you need something that is accurate and concise yet containing all the information you need and this is the answer.

Food for garden birds now varies so much, such as peanuts. Can anyone remember when we used to put out peanuts in their shells, along with nyger and sunflower seeds?

This handbook lists the various foods and give their value in terms of calories per unit which helps you decide which one will suit the birds in your garden.

There are sections on bird food, wildlife food, feeders, feeding accessories, nestboxes and houses that include birds and other wildlife. There are also sections on books, cameras. binoculars and garden plants.

It really is a feast of information and a must for anyone interested in garden wildlife for whatever reason.

The handbook is available free by telephoning 0800 7312820.

Complementary to this is CJ Wildlife's monthly emailed newsletter that is also free. For your copy, email them on www.birdfood.co.uk/newsletter.

At present over 25,000 people get this free newsletter and I look forward to it every month.