I finally got round to making the trip to see the Ring-necked Duck thats been here for a while. It was seen the day before so all looked good. But no! - it had decided to do a bunk overnight !
But other highlights were: 7 Scaup c.50 Wigeon c20 Pochard Plenty of Tufted Duck 5 Goosander 1 Redshank 1 Curlew 2 Great crested Grebe in full summer plumage.
I checked the surrounding lakes around Borwick for the Ring-necked Duck but no luck.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 2nd of March 2020 09:43:52 PM
Originally posted on January 21st by Paul Brewster:
As many will know I've been forced out of birding proper at the mo due to 2 cataract operations. I'm halfway through, so very incapacitated with my 2 eyes being totally out of synch. Added to that post-op infections and complications for which I'm still being treated & it's no fun, or straightforward as I was told it would be. Thanks for those who have been in contact, especially to Sid Ashton for the kind phonecall.
All I can do at present is be taken to 'see' birds rather than go birding proper. To that end I visited Pine Lake near Leighton Moss yesterday (Mon 20/1/20) and headed up to the north end of the lake to near the watersports centre.Here was where most ducks were frequenting, Tufted Ducks, Pochard, Wigeon, a few Goosander and a couple of Goldeneye. An exhaustive scope search first turned up the Scaup that have been here, 4 in total, 2 of these being smart drakes. It took quite a lot longer to find the long-staying 1w drake Ring-necked Duck, mainly because it was underwater more than on top! The bird was always distant, more than halfway out but showed pretty well in the scope, again a very smart bird.
A montage attached, highly cropped in digiscoped, record shots of the Ring-necked Duck.
