Colemere had provided my only other Scaup for the year, a long distance job then but these were visible from the bank above the sailing club.
The seven had somehow become six and they stayed close together for much of the morning. I can't be sure but they looked as if they could be a family group? (posing straight out of the 'Collins' guide)? Adult male / female, 3 juv males and i juv female.
An interesting interaction took place with the local Tufties, three of the Scaup broke ranks and flew over to eyeball them - the size difference quite obvious when you see them side by side.
Here's a closer view of the adult and juvenile males
The juvenile female.......
And one seriously impressive, gorgeous female - she was fantastic, really bright plumage and pure white patch to die for - it was love at first sight!
Finally the adult male.......
How do you follow that - well a Ring billed Gull would have been nice but despite getting to the Mere early and scanning the the roost with John Porter, no sign of it. Two adult Yellow-legged Gulls were some compensation......
