Rare Ducks!

With news of a drake Ring-necked Duck present at Priorslee Lake in Shropshire at the weekend, having only seen a female of this species before I was keen to call in on the way back up north from Devon.

Arriving at Priorslee Lake and parking in the layby off the A4640, we soon clocked on to our target near to the orange buoy on the right hand side of the lake. Originally asleep with his head tucked under his wing, we could still make out some of the subtle differences that separate Ring-necked Ducks from the similar and more common Tufteds.

A distant shot of the Ring-necked Duck drake

Eventually waking up and swimming around with the resident Tufted Ducks, this was a great opportunity to take in all the ID features – the slightly peaked crown was clearly visible, as was the deep orange eye, whilst we could clearly see the distinguishing white bands on the bill. The white wedge shape on the side (a key feature separating Ring-necked Ducks and Tufted Ducks) also stood out even from a distance, contrasting to the darker grey side than you would normally find on a Tufted.

Note the white bands on the bill - absent on a Tufted Duck

The white wedge on the side is also clear to see

Having missed a one-day drake at my local Neumann’s Flash last year, it was great to finally catch up with this North American visitor, and the setting sun on the lake made for a great break from our 4 hour trip back from Devon.

The Coots were making the most of the evening light (Sadly not an American Coot....)

Recently, I also stumbled across a local site for Ruddy Duck when looking at nearby Birdtrack records in the area. Having not seen one now for around 4 years, I made the 20 minute journey to see if I could locate one. As soon as we arrived at the lake, Alex (Ruddy Duck obsessive) immediately locked on to the bird, a fine looking male that spent most of its time asleep before finally waking up and displaying that electric blue bull for us to admire.

Ruddy Ducks, once a common sight across our UK water bodies, have now drastically reduced in numbers, with just a handful of individuals scattered throughout Britain. Due to the threat that this non-native North American species poses to the White-headed Duck population in Spain through inbreeding, the government took the decision to cull all individuals in Britain to protect the rarer Spanish residents.

Escaping from captivity back in 1948 and with over 6,500 individuals at their peak, the latest data as of 2014 indicated that just 10 females remained, and the future culling efforts will be fixed on eradicating these last breeding individuals. With British birds finding their way to Europe and arriving in France, Holland, Belgium and Spain, it was the discovery of hybrids in 1990 in Spain that resulted in the widespread cull being undertaken with the aim to completely remove any threat to the native Spanish birds.

White-headed Ducks at Bonanza Pools in Spain last August

I remember a time when Ruddy Ducks were a regular occurrence at Marbury, Neumann’s and Moore, but recently they have proved very hard to come across. Without doubt, they will become extinct in Britain in the wild within the next 5 years. It’s unclear how long this particular drake has been here for and indeed how long how long he will be able to avoid the cull!

Harlequin Duck makes landfall in Aberdeen!

Whilst sat in TGI Fridays tucking in to my birthday meal of Jack Daniels chicken at the start of the month, an alert popped up on my phone announcing that a Harlequin Duck had been seen and photographed at Seaton Park in Aberdeen – one of my personal ‘must see’ birds and an incredible record for Britain! Originally put out as a female but later re-identified correctly as a first winter male, this proved to be a great ‘unblocker’, being the first really twitchable one in my lifetime after the Wick bird of 1991 and the two first summer females in Ayrshire 5 years later. With a handful of birds making it to the remote Hebridean islands in the past 15 years, this mainland bird was extremely welcomed and it was fingers crossed he would stick around until the following weekend.

With several previous birds overwintering there was a good chance it would, and sure enough, after a tiring 6 hour journey up to Aberdeen in less than ideal weather conditions and an overnight stop in a hotel, we arrived at the site and immediately locked on to this arctic wonder as he happily went about his business – a long way from home in the unexpected location of a stretch of river in the local park!

Like its Icelandic counterparts, this Harlequin Duck tended to favour the fast, rough torrents of the rapids, flying from point to point as it continued to dive for food in the depths of the icy flows, plunging down to take advantage of the clear rich pickings in the river below. A pair of displaying Dippers were a nice sight on the rocks, as well as several drake Goldeneye in their beautiful black and white plumage and up to 3 Goosander – again highlighting the rich food source available in this small stretch of river.

Representing just the 19^th record of this stunning duck for the UK, this individual tended to favour both the reeded area of the river to the left of the toilet block as well as the rapids immediately to the right, providing great views as he dived down on the river in front of us for a prolonged period before flying downstream past the development works to the furthest point of the river, where sadly there was no access.

With the nearest population being Iceland, where over 5,000 pairs breed each year, it is highly likely that, due to the fierce Northerly gales experienced lately and the bird’s location on the East coast in Aberdeen, the most likely source of origin for this Arctic dweller will be from these rocky coastlines – displaced after the fierce storms that battered the North Sea. The Harlequin Duck’s range also expands further afield, with birds found in Greenland, Eastern Russia and NW and NE America, and birds sometimes wintering further south in California and North Carolina.

Distinctive in their breeding plumage with their fantastic showy orange and slate-grey colouration, this first winter male sadly looked more like a female, with an overall appearance of dark chocolatey-brown feathers. However, the distinctive round white spot behind the ear was clearly visible, as was the white patch in front of the eye and clear cut white line on the breast. Obviously not yet in his full breeding finery, it would be great if this male sticks around to develop his full breeding plumage – where a second visit to tie in with our planned Scottish Highland trip at Easter may well be on the cards!