Lesser Scaup

A first sighting for me today.

It was a nice bright morning, albeit a bit chilly, so I drove over to Leighton Moss and initially had the pleasure of the Lower Hide all to myself. After about an hour of quiet solitude I heard the sound of many approaching people and a group entered asking if I had had any luck with the Lesser Scaup?  Apparently the twitching community had received an alert to the presence of these rare birds and this group had just moved en masse from the Causeway Hide from where the Lesser Scaups had been seen in the distance heading towards the Lower Hide.  As soon as the group had all got their telescopes out they received another alert to tell them that the Lesser Scaups were now back at the Causeway Hide so there followed another commotion while they all packed up again and went charging back to the Causeway Hide.  One gentleman remained behind with me in the Lower Hide and within five minutes we were treated to a nice quiet private viewing as a pair of Lesser Scaup sailed majestically past (well out of sight from the Causeway Hide!).

Lesser Scaups are not listed as a British species but have made occasional visits in the past.  They are similar to the Scaup (aka Greater Scaup) but are smaller and they have a different head shape with a flatter back to the head and a little cap on the top.