Southfield reservoir is about 10 minutes drive from my hotel in East Yorkshire and so is a very handy place to visit either before or after work, or even for a lunch break. I'd never even heard of the place before the end of June this year, but already I've got pretty impressive list for the site which includes Caspian tern, ruddy shelduck, black tern, scaup and as from today, ring-necked duck. Also today peregrine and several flocks of pink-footed geese over.
The ring-necked duck is being reported as a female type, but in my opinion a more accurate description would be juvenile female. It's a great bird, my fourth ring-necked duck this year following drakes in Glasgow and at Kirkwall on Orkney, and a first winter female in Manchester.
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| Photo: Ring-necked duck, juvenile female, Southfield Reservoir, East Yorkshire, 27/10/2019 |
The lack of white on the bill is a clear indication that this is a juvenile and the eye colour indicates that it is a female. Males very quickly acquire a pale eye and black breast. Compare this to a first winter male in Lancashire, just three weeks later on 19th November 2019 (below).
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| Photo: Ring-necked duck, 1st winter male, Pine Lake, Lancashire, 19/11/2021 |
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| Photo: Ring-necked duck, juvenile female, Southfield Reservoir, East Yorkshire, 27/10/2021 |
The heavily spotted belly is also a feature of a juvenile.
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