Peterborough Bird Club Gallery

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Saturday, December 11, 2004

We want your pictures!

If you've taken some good photos of birds in the Peterborough area lately, we'd really like to be able to display them on this gallery. Photos will be credited to the photographer with a link to their website if applicable.

Good images of common species are just as welcome as rarer ones. The pics will displayed at a maximum width of 400 pixels; file size should be no larger than c.50kb.

E-mail your masterpiece to: brianhstone [at] btinternet.com
Please remember to state when and where you took the picture.

Scaup at Woodwalton Fen

© Katie Fuller

This bird is interesting! At first glance, it appears to be a female Scaup, but a closer look reveals it has quite a lot of black on its bill - suggesting Tufted Duck? At some angles, the bird's mantle also looks a bit darker than perhaps it should. The size and shape all look right for Scaup, however.

John Oates commented: "That looks like a Scaup to me. The black on the bill looks OK - the nail when viewed head on is quite broad, so it does look as though there is a lot of black there. The plumage, size and shape seem Scaup-like. I bet you could find birds like this quite easily in a flock up north somewhere."

Mark Hawkes says: "As John has pointed out, the black on the bill, although rather extensive, is OK for Scaup, because (if I recall correctly) juveniles tend to show more black than adults. Also the dark back, and notable ear-spot would also suggest juvenile. However, Aythya hybirds (and pure female Scaups) are always a lot easier to deal with in the field (as opposed to photos)."

Mark Ward reckons: "Looks like a first-winter female Scaup to me. A lot of people seem to forget that there is considerable variation within a species. Not every individual looks the same! The extent of black on the bill of pure-bred Aythya ducks is very variable and not a reliable feature for proving or disproving the ID of a bird alone (this bird does not have an excessive amount of black, anyway.
"It is a juvenile, based on the the dark mantle and brown flanks. Backed up by everything else on this bird: the nice large round head, larger size than Tufted, good, bright white blaze - there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary with your bird. I agree with Mark Hawkes that it is best to see and judge hybrid ducks for yourself in the field to be sure, but I see no reason why this isn't a first-winter female Scaup."

Dunnock at Tanholt GP

Friday, December 10, 2004

Bean Geese at Bassenhally Moor

© Mike Weedon

A group of eight tundra Bean Geese (and one Pink-footed Goose) has been in the area north of the River Nene, along Thorney Dyke Road, for at least a week now. This is the first record of the species since 2000, when a skein were in the same area.