In amongst the mallards ...

In amongst the mallards, swans, gulls, coots, canada geese etc today at Peatmore Lagoon were these ducks and some paler ones which I assumed were the juveniles of the same species. I have (to my shame perhaps) failed to work out what they were even with the help of the world wide webbed feet guide. Slightly larger than the mallards they were swimming with but significantly smaller than the canad geese nearby.

I'm sure someone out there will rapidly tell me what they were, and probably that they are incredibly common!

For me the important thing was that although they were different, they were still accepted as part of the crowd on the lake. They still joined in with the mass change of direction when any humans further round the bank looked as though they might just have some food. And they are still beautiful creatures.