This morning I saw what I thought was the now regular female scaup at the
western end of the flash from Mossley Hall farm. I didn't have my scope with
me, it was just through binoculars. Then I walked around to the ruck where the
light was better but still not good and took these photos of what I assumed
was the same bird. Except that on examining the photos this evening, they're
clearly not of the same bird.
The most obvious difference is the extent of white on the face, which is more
extensive on this bird and unlike the other bird, it goes right under the
bill.
I always think that scaup look like real bruisers when compared to tufted
ducks, they are larger, more robust and sit higher in the water. This bird is
very petite for a scaup. It appears to be about the same size as a
tufted duck and look at the bill, if anything smaller than the adjacent
tuftie. Compare the bill size to that of the female in the next couple of
photos.
This is the first bird. Notice that the pale patch on the ear coverts is also
a lot larger, and the eye is brighter than todays bird.
The first female is on the right. The bird on the left is the 1st winter male
which was also present for a few days. Note how big the bill is on this female
compared to the relatively light bill of todays bird.
Here's todays bird. Note that the eye is not as bright as the associating
adult tufted ducks. Also notice the white going under the bill and compare to
the original bird.
So what is this bird? It's hard to say, a small scaup is a possibility or
perhaps a tufted duck x scaup hybrid.
Today's bird also seems browner on the back, though the light wasn't great so
this might be misleading.
No comments:
Post a Comment