Ok I'll tell u it was a Black Duck. The only reason I went is it was a lifer. I've never been near one. By the time I went to the scillies they'd all gone, I haven't been to Cornwall when there's been one getting seen, up until the last couple of years I'd only been birding in Scotland a couple of times, in August there are seabirds passing Ireland So do you really think I'd be looking a fuckin ducks? Even normal people would rather look for Thayers Gull at Killybegs in Feb/March than go looking for a Black Duck. And well Wales is generally best avoided! I've even managed to dip in the states coz the ones in Texas aren't Black they're mottled (I think, can't really remember cos I wasn't interested then and I'm not now!) and split.
there are two things about this bird tho. The first is I'm not 100% convinced it's not a hybrid. I'm away at the moment and have no literature but the longest tertial does seem to have a lot of pale in it. My phonescoped pics are a bit overexposed in this respect, and a quick search of pics on google does show them to have pale here but it just seemed a little extensive and white. That said I'm probably just being paranoid.
The other interesting thing is the location. About 3 years ago a friend had a Black Duck nr Strontian on the south side of this loch literally within a mile or so of where it is now, can it really have been there that long without being seen since? They are notoriously site faithful when they get over here so it wouldn't be a surprise but surely there must be hybrid offspring around if it has been here that long. Maybe this is one of the original birds offspring? John has pics of his bird so I'll be interested to see them. Here's some pics anyway, any comments on the I'd would be appreciated.
I wa also a bit gutted to see this at the side of the road, it's very small so presumably a young one that's wasnt very experienced at crossing roads!
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2 comments:
Check out Martyn Sidwell's photos for comparison Garry:
http://www.teesmouthbc.com/forumtbc/index.php?topic=3120.msg6455#msg6455
Thanks James, can't see much on the phone screen but will check again when I get home. One thing I didn't mention in the post was that because of the way it had the wings folded I could only see the longest tertial on the left wing so aren't sure if it's symmetrical.
I have been told that there are good pics showing the bird to have green in the head! Surely not good if true.
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