Long-tailed Duck

The drakes look their best in winter, which may seem unusual, but I think it is because they breed in the far  north where the summers are short, so much of the pre-breeding activity takes place now. The ducks today were doing a lot of splashing and diving. I'm not sure if it was specifically males trying to pair off with females, or males pushing around other males to impress the females. In the splashing it is hard to tell what's going on. This was all on the Peedie Sea in Kirkwall.