On our dog walk late this afternoon, we saw two pairs of very strange ducks on the River Ribble. The males (I assume they were males) were mainly white with (I think) black heads and necks and black bits on the wings. I am sorry I can't be more precise as not only did I not have my bins and camera, I also wasn't wearing my specs!!!
The females seemed to be smaller and were a browny-grey. The "black" heads and necks could have been any very dark colour. Both males were identical, as were the females.
They were swimming and looking for food beneath the water. They were so fast it was unbelievable - when one ducked under the water, the mate literally water skied to get there. They were in a part of the river where the water flows quite fast over some large rocks.
We are some 30 miles inland in Lancashire. We take this walk most days and this is the first time we have seen these ducks.
Any ideas? I hope to go back tomorrow, better equiped!!
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Hi Sparrow
They sound a bit like Goldeneye. They are about the same size as tufted duck and somewhat similar in shape. The head is dark green which could look blackish and the males have a lot of white on their flanks whereas the females are much browner in appearance. They are diving ducks.
Another possibility is Goosander. These are bigger and have a much longer, lower appearance in the water but again the male has a dark green head with whitish flanks. They are also expert underwater swimmers
Both the species normally prefer fairly tranquil rivers or lakes but who knows.
Check out these two in the RSPB bird identifier to see if they look anything like the birds you saw.
TJ
____________________________________________________________________
Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Yes, the description you made of the duck does go towards ID's of a Tufted Duck, Goldeneye or a Goosander.
Have a look at all three descriptions, and they are all diving ducks
Regards
Kathy and Dave
Strange Ducks on the river ribble !!!! was that before or after todays ration of wine ( only kidding ), look forward to seeing your pics.
There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.
Sounds very Goosandery to me...... so far :)
S
For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides, binoculars, scopes, tripods, etc - put 'Birding Tips' into the search box
The strange ducks have gone. (No Bishy, I wasn't on the wine yesterday!!!)
I suspect they were either asleep and hidden, or had merely used my bit of river as a Travel Lodge for the night, on their way elsewhere.
HOWEVER, I did see this:
There were 2 of them, one asleep and the other rooting about in the grass bank above the river. Are they oyster catchers, and if so, what are they doing so far inland? No oysters or cockles here.
They are indeed Oystercatchers, Sparrow. They occur inland much more frequently than is supposed. Do you remember this recent post in which LloydScott gave some very useful information.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/forums/t/10507.aspx
Pity the "ducks" had gone. Did you check out the suggestions?
Unknown said:http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/forums/t/10507.aspx
Gets me 'server error in community' application page *sigh*
Nice pics of an oystercatcher Sparrow :-)
Best wishes Chris
Click Here to see my photos
Thanks TJ.
I had lost track of that thread, despite it only being a couple of days old! My memory ain't what it used to be!
How lovely, a pair of oyster catchers on my bit of the river. Shame about the ducks, but I'll have another look later this afternoon. I am struggling with RSPB bird identifier because I couldn't see them well enough without my specs, and hubby was no better. I did think any of the suggestions might be right.
Hi Seymouraves,
Many thanks for suggesting Bishy's reply as the answer!!!!!!! LOL
Had it been a bit later on in the evening I might have agreed, but the sun wasn't over the yard arm, so my body was alcohol free!!
Susan H said:I am struggling with RSPB bird identifier because I couldn't see them well enough without my specs, and hubby was no better. I did think any of the suggestions might be right.
Have a look at these two links which have photos and videos of the two species to see if they jog your memory.
Goldeneye
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/common-goldeneye-bucephala-clangula
Goosander
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/goosander-mergus-merganser