RSPB Scotland’s birding day out: Dashing ducks!

A couple of weeks ago Allie McGregor shared some stories of the gulls and waders that were seen on a wee RSPB Scotland birding day out. This blog follows on from that looking at some of the ducks and other species we saw, and some more ID tips!

RSPB Scotland’s birding day out: Dashing ducks!

I’ve always thought ducks have great character. There are many truly astonishing looking species. On our day out, we were spoiled with all the ducks we saw on the lagoon and out on the sea. I didn’t see all of these myself, but a total of 11 different kinds were spotted throughout the day! I myself saw teals, wigeon, goldeneye, mallard, velvet scoter, a long-tailed duck, eider, and common scoter. I missed out on spotting the surf scoter, goosander, and red breasted merganser that were also seen.

Right away we could see there were a number of ducks out on the icy lagoon. At the lagoon alongside the curlew, oystercatcher, and different kinds of gulls we saw teals and wigeon. I think I’d seen both of these species once or twice before. Teals are very small dabbling ducks with a short neck. The male’s head is chestnut coloured with a green band on the side. The plumage on their body had a definite grey colouring to it. Female teals lack a little of the colour the males have, being brown and streaked all over.


A male teal

Wigeon share some similar colouring to teals with chestnut and grey plumage, but they have many differences, so they aren’t tricky to tell apart. Wigeon have a short bill, pointed tails and wings, and a narrow neck. Male wigeon have unmistakable cream-yellow coloured foreheads and crowns. Females are a sort of mottled brown or grey.


Female and male wigeon

Out on the sea we saw velvet and common scoter. As you might guess these two are very similar at a glance, but when you look a little longer there’s a handful of features you can examine to spot the difference. Both are mostly black, with yellow-orange patches on the bills of males. As scoters are often seen offshore from a distance, it can be hard to make out some of the features that can be used to tell them apart.  Perhaps the most distinctive unique feature on the velvet scoter is their white wing patch. This can be hidden but will show when they are preening or flying. They also have a small white patch beneath their eye which can sometimes be surprisingly noticeable from afar. The head shape of the two species differs, with velvet scoter having a longer, thicker head and neck which leads seamlessly into the bill. Finally, if you can see the bill clearly on the male, you might spot the difference in placement of the yellow patches. Common scoters have it on the top piece of the bill, while on the velvet scoter it is at the sides. Female velvet scoters have a rather obvious white spot on the side of their head, whereas the common scoter have a dark cap and a pale brown cheek.


A male and female common scoter

A particularly special sight for me was the long-tailed duck hiding amongst the scoter. These elegant creatures are rather small with brown, black, and white plumage. It has a rather short and stubby bill and a steep forehead, features which are particularly prominent on the male. Earning its name, the most exceptional feature by far is the tail length of the males, which can be up to 15cm. This really adds something special I think, making the whole look of the bird quite fantastic. It also makes it much easier to identify as the only other duck with an elongated, thin tail is pintail, who look rather different!

Before I sign off on this ID journey I just wanted to mention all the other species we saw that I haven’t had a chance to mention. It really shows how lucky we are in Scotland, and how easily we might be able to access wildlife even in our cities. As well as the ducks, waders, and gulls I’ve mentioned we also saw blackbirds, blue tits, a bullfinch, carrion crows, chaffinches, a cormorant, goldfinches, a kestrel, long-tailed tits, magpies, mute swan, a redwing, a reed bunting, rock pipit, a Slavonian grebe, starling, and woodpigeon. It was just incredible to be out and about and see such a variety of gorgeous bird life, and I’m thrilled to say my bird identification skills feel well up to scratch now!

 

If you’ve seen a bird out and about that you want to identify check out our bird identifier.