Stunning splash of colour on a local pond

On the off chance I might see something on my way to dropping my son at work on 28th May 2021, I took my bins. Good job. Scanning the banks of a nearby pool hoping to spot a Grey Wagtail or a Kingfisher, I immediately latched onto a duck asleep on the grassy verge. Its identity was in no doubt: Mandarin! (My first for Cumbria.) I raced home to get my gear and was soon snapping away at this fabulous oddity, the origin of which I will never know of course. (The local farmer tells me it returns in the summer months and has done for a couple of years now, unbeknownst to me.) Anyway, this was birding/photography just how I like it: peace and quiet, just me and the bird, and a beautiful setting... A memorable moment indeed. Worth noting too was the lack of leg rings (I think) and a full set of wings in perfect working order. (It flew quite a distance from the bank onto the water at one point, without trouble, and had obviously flew here in the first place as part of its annual (?) "migration").

I returned the following day and took some more photos (see below) but there was no sign of the bird on 30th May.