Quite distant from the main hide so I zipped up to the North hide and managed a picture or two....
This should have been 'end of' but I looked closely at the images.....One thing that struck me when seeing the bird 'head on' was the size of the nail!
The large rounded head and extensive white patch at the base of the bill, the bill, pale patch on the ear coverts, grey on flanks / back - all look perfect for Scaup. This is NOT a 'poor man's female Scaup' (Tuftie)! I was just a little concerned it may not be 100% pure on the strength of the nail! I've trawled many images of Scaup and noted the comments on Roger Gibb's recent birdforum thread of the same bird (the nail is definitely variable!) I'm sticking with Scaup unless someone can convince me (convincingly) otherwise. Everything else fits, I was just being cautious.....
Any comments welcome!
