I've seen lots of ring-necked ducks over the years but this bird on Pine Lake in Lancashire, near M6 junction 35 was only my second 1st winter male. The first was a very distant bird at Wexford Slobs in Ireland about four years ago, so this is the first that I have seen at close range and the first I have been able to have a good look at. Not that it was easy to see, for much of our visit the bird was distant and against the sun. Eventually though we did see it close to the reed bed on the north shore and in reasonable light. All of the photos in this post were taken on my phone.
Also today on Pine Lake around five scaup.
The bill pattern and head shape are very distinctive on ring-necked duck and given a good view it's easy enough to pick out even at quite a distance. However if it's asleep in the middle of a flock of tufties or if it's diving frequently, or against the sun as it was for long periods today, it can be a bit more difficult....
...but really that bill pattern is unique and with a bit of patience it's a straight forward identification.
The head shape is quite different to tufted duck, however notice what appears to be the remnants of a tuft. I've seen this before on eclipse birds. A few years ago I saw a pair at the Mullagh on Lough Beg in Northern Ireland, and they both appeared to have the remnants of a tuft, if anything on the male of that pair it was even more pronounced than on this bird.
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