How often to do you get to see something new, that you’ve never laid eyes on before? During migration, in spring and autumn, rare or unusual birds are occasionally blown off course and can turn up in places you just wouldn’t expect. One such visitor has recently appeared at our Lochwinnoch nature reserve near Glasgow – a lesser scaup.
The lesser scaup is a black, white and grey duck that is native to North America. Only a few individuals are ever recorded in the UK each year. This particular duck could be identified because it had been tagged, so we know that it was in Portugal in December 2013, then in Wales during October of the following year. In May 2015 he re-appeared in West Yorkshire, so it seems he is making his way further north with every passing year!
Lochwinnoch has proven to be a great place to spot unusual bird visitors, particularly ducks. Over winter a smew turned up at the reserve and stayed there for a few weeks. Joe Timmins managed to snap a photo of that one and shared it on our RSPB Scotland Facebook page.
We’ve also had sightings of a green-winged teal, which is another rare visitor from North America. That one was first seen by John Sweeney, a highly respected Scottish birder, who was also the first to see and identify the lesser scaup. The sightings were later confirmed by Angus Murray, who runs the Rare Birds telephone service in Scotland.
Spring and autumn are great times of year to get out and enjoy wildlife anyway, but maybe the possibility of seeing something rare or unusual can give us just that extra little bit of motivation! Check out more of our nature reserves in Scotland here.