Is this a Scaup?

Last August I took this photograph at the Mere in Scarborough.




At the time I thought it was a Tufted duck and thought it would make my entry for this weeks 'T' competition. However, now I'm not so sure!

The white face would indicate it might be a Scaup. However, Scaups are considered amongst the rarest of breeding birds in the UK and this one clearly has some youngsters. Have I taken a photo of a rare event or is it a 'Tufty' after all?

Can anyone help with identification please? Thanks.

John

I think it's Tufted. The pictures I have of a female Scaup the white on the face is more pronounced and defined.

Thanks Barrie. I've looked at another book and that does show some white around the face on some female Tufteds. Easy to get the two confused though.

John

Female Tufteds can have a white patch round the base of the bill and also under their tail feathers but this one of yours seems to lack the small Tuft at the back of its head, could it be a Pochard?

Yes, that's partly why I wasn't sure, but the tuft can hide itself on occasion so wasn't too concerned about the lack of it. One would think it was such an easy task to identify a bird like that.

I don't think it is a Pochard as they appear to have a white V on their black bill and there is no evidence of that here.

So despite the lack of an obvious tuft, I still think that is the most likely for them and I've entered it now as a Tufty for the letter T so I'd have to try and convince any doubters

Thanks for the suggestion anyhow.

John