My final conclusion is that the bird in question is a Scaup x Tufted Duck female. In the end it allowed me to take a few photos of it, as you'll see the light wasn't great! One thing the photos don't show is that the bird was similar in size to a Tufted Duck.
Also on the Reservoir today were 3 Scaup drakes (1ad + 2x1stw) and 55 Goldeneye. Good news also on the Bittern front as I was told it had been seen in flight on Tuesday by David Benjamin
2 comments:
Mark - this looks like a fairly typical Scaup to me, I guess a little on the small side from what you say?
Thanks Barry. I was basing my conclusion on size and the extent of the black nail on the bill. By all accounts these features can show variation from bird to bird. Looks like I'm going to have to put a few more hours in looking at duck! At least I got the bit about "I find the identification of duck tricky" right :o)
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