Duck IDs, Nottingham, UK (1 Viewer)

[Ben M]

Spotted two odd ones out in a group of Pochard this afternoon on my local patch. Any ideas on the two ducks to the right of these Pochard?

Might not be possible from the quality of the footage, but maybe...

My guesses are Wigeon at the back and at the front maybe female Ruddy or female RCP.

 

[Jane Turner]

I see a feamle Pochard and a smaller duck that could possibly be Ruddy, though there is something of a small sawbill about the shape of it.

Its rather pale underneath too. I wonder if it might be a Smew - though if it were I can't see any provable features!

That is an abstention!

 

[bitterntwisted]

Female Pochard and Ruddy Duck for me. I see what you mean about the paleness extending up the breast and around the flanks, Jane, but the jizz is for me completely stifftail and not sawbill.

Graham

 

[Hotspur]

I agree with Graham, female Ruddy for me

 

[Carlos U]

Group of pochards and a male ruddy duck in winter plumage

 

[bitterntwisted]

If it's a Ruddy, it's a winter male, but I am not 100% happy with it. I've now played the video about 50 times and I cannot say for certain that it is not a Redhead Smew. It's much less likely, of course, but I'd be happier if someone who (unlike me) sees a lot of Smews in various plumages could make a call.

Graham

 

[Ben M]

Thanks for the ID on the female Pochard... a female Pochard with a group of males... now why didn't I think of that?! |:S|

As for the other one... Smew is very unlikely on my patch and maybe too big in comparison to the female Pochard... Whereas Ruddy has been recorded here, but it's still a patch tick for me. I'm more inclined to think winter male now, as Carlos suggested (and Graham too, whilst I write).

Looking at the original higher quality footage, the tail is clearer. The following are six consecutive frames (left-to-right, top-to-bottom) when the camera first panned onto it (cropped out of the video clip above!). The first view was it facing away from the camera with its tail in the air and it turns to the left profile and levels.

 

[Ghostly Vision]

Ruddy duck, deifnitely.

GV

 

[dan pointon]

Yeah definitely Ruddy.

 

[Mike Feely]

Hi Ben

Am i right that your local is Bestwood Lakes (sure i've read that on here before)? If so thats not a great distance (as the Ruddy flies) from Kingsmill, where it has been a bumper year for Ruddys this year. Most of the youngsters have now gone, presumably dispersed, and if you say that you've never seen one at your site before, it's likely that it could have originated at Kingsmill. Not sure what the population is like in the rest of Notts - any ideas?

Btw - i agree its a 1st yr Male Ruddy!

all the best
Mike

 

[jason stannage]

its a ruddy duck, 20 mins looking at this took a while to rule out smew, hope this helps, js

 

[Ben M]

Hi Ben

Am i right that your local is Bestwood Lakes (sure i've read that on here before)? If so thats not a great distance (as the Ruddy flies) from Kingsmill, where it has been a bumper year for Ruddys this year. Most of the youngsters have now gone, presumably dispersed, and if you say that you've never seen one at your site before, it's likely that it could have originated at Kingsmill. Not sure what the population is like in the rest of Notts - any ideas?

Btw - i agree its a 1st yr Male Ruddy!

all the best
Mike

Hi Mike,

You're right, it's the Mill Lakes... (and the rest of the park too)! I've only been watching it since September, and only get to the Mill Lakes about once a fortnight. I'm not sure what the population is like in Notts as I haven't got to many sites myself (and I bet many sightings aren't reported), although I saw a couple of others earlier this year at Clumber.

Cheers,

Ben.

 

[gerdwichers8]

First I thought (apart from the pochard) it was a male Eider, than a young male Smew, after that it changed in a Ruddy Duck and I even had a glimpse of Hooded Merganser.
Shoot!

 

[Keith Reeder]

Funny, sawbill-like beak for a ruddy though - I see what Jane is saying.

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

Agree on the pochard female,but with the other thing?!... that looks odd,especially because it looks only like differnet shades of grey on my monitor (no other colour) and the glimpses on the beak one time let me even think a small grebe...

I guess I have to watch the video some more times

 

[bitterntwisted]

Thank God we don't work for DEFRA, eh?

 

[Jane Turner]

I guess I have to watch the video some more times

I find the more you watch it the less it helps... I was fine with it being a Ruddy Duck until it lifted out of the water and showed so much white underneath.... then turned it head sideways on a showed a thin bill..



Hmmm. could try and string it into Black-necked Grebe you know! Except it looks nothing like one shape-wise!

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

I find the more you watch it the less it helps... I was fine with it being a Ruddy Duck until it lifted out of the water and showed so much white underneath.... then turned it head sideways on a showed a thin bill..



Hmmm. could try and string it into Black-necked Grebe you know! Except it looks nothing like one shape-wise!

yes---and you know, now I have watched it too often....

 

[Mike Feely]

Hmm

i agree it does look rather pale, but to me it's still a Ruddy - watch the little tail shake closely (on full screen if you can).

I need to check the 1st year Ruddys at Kingsmill this weekend to be 100% though.

...

Just watched it again and now i'm even less sure.

Ben, is it still there? I could try to get to Bestwood on Saturday & have a look.

Mike

 

[bitterntwisted]

I know this must just be a Ruddy, but on the back of this discussion and my worry about it I went and watched some today and I couldn't find one whose plumage really matched. The problem for me was not so much the bill, which at the right angle does look very thin, but the colour and contrast between cheeks/crown/breast/flank/underparts. I even found both male and female Ruddy Ducks right next to male and female Pochards which gave good tone comparison, and Ben's bird does appear somehow odd.

I don't know whether the absence of any wing flap when the bird rears in the water is a clue to stifftail? I didn't have a Smew handy, but the Goosanders never reared without a little flap, and I can't picture a Smew doing it. Ruddy Duck, however, does do this.

Graham