Identify this Are these Scaup..?

Are these Scaup..?

Jez in Surrey 21/02/2023 15:30

Howdy all, a colleague spotted these in a lake in St James’ Park. I’ve had a look through the bird guide and the Scaup is the closest match but the guide says they are red listed.. Just wanted to see if I’m mistaken…

cheers

0 nadiac 21/02/2023 15:51

They look very much like tufted ducks to me. Scaup is supposed to have lighter back.
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0 Rishaan Shah 21/02/2023 16:25

These look like male Tufted Ducks. Scaup have no tuft and a pale back. The females are much harder to differentiate, but always look for the tuft.
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0 TeeJay 21/02/2023 16:29

Just so you can see the difference here's a shot of a male Scaup swimming with male Tufties.

And a closer view of the Scaup showing the pattern of the grey feathers on its back.

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Tony

My Flickr Photostream
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0 Rishaan Shah 21/02/2023 16:33 in reply to TeeJay

Wow! Where did you see these?
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0 TeeJay 21/02/2023 16:50 in reply to Rishaan Shah

Rishaan Shah said:
Where did you see these?

Not sure because I didn't tag the photos but it was probably on my local patch of Dinton Pastures near Reading in Berks.way back in Dec 2016

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Tony

My Flickr Photostream
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0 Jez in Surrey 21/02/2023 19:55 in reply to TeeJay

Ahh yes I can see the tufts now, hadn’t noticed them before..! I had however, noticed their backs were darker than the Illustration of the Scaup which is what made me wonder..
Thanks all, much appreciated
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