04/03/2020 West Park, Wolverhampton

Ferruginous Duck: I've been working on and off down near Worcester and Gloucester over the last few months and it's been a good opportunity to see some locally scarce birds along the way.

While on my way home I took a small detour to a small boating lake in the town of Wolverhampton which has been host to several tufted duck and one drake Ferruginous or as birders say a 'fudge duck.'

Fudge duck have a very distinctive head profile with its characteristic head with long bill, long sloping forehead and rather high rear crown, not unlike Pochard.

Adult drakes have a dark collar around the base of the neck, a grey bill and chestnut plumage with a darker brown back. They have a white belly and undertail and a light yellow eye.







Here is a female tufted duck for comparison, note its darker head and depper brown plumage, lacking the chestnut coloration. Tufted have a brighter yellower eye and lack the white undertail.

Talking to a local birder who was also spending his afternoon with the fudge duck I was told the bird had arrived on the same day as a large flock of tufted ducks, many of which have now moved on leaving a handful of induldules.

The fudge was pretty wary, it stuck close to its tufted duck counterparts and was quick to move out in the middle of the lake when approached. But it occasionally came right up to the stony banks of the lake in search of food and with a bit of fieldcraft and patience I was able to creep up on the bird.

My third fudge duck and by far the best looking and most photographable bird I've seen. Proper made up.

08/06/2019 Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire

Black-headed Bunting: Migration hotspot Flamborough Head came up trumps this weekend as on Friday a very smart looking male black-headed bunting was found along Lighthouse Road.

Upon arriving on Saturday morning there were large crowds gathering alongside the road looking in to the hedge, I waited about 10 minutes before the bird made its first appearance before melting away again and disappearing.





The bird showed two or three more time, relatively well but i was only bale to mange some  poor distant  shots.

Still a new bird for this list, so I was very pleased indeed.

Ferruginous Duck: A little further down Lighthouse road near the golf course a Eastern sub-Alpine warbler was found, this was a little more illusive as it skulked under some brambles and within a young sycamore tree.

 The weather soon changed and the rain came along with some strong cold winds so Dawn and I decided to move on and try again for the fudge duck in South Yorkshire.

This time we got lucky as the bird was relocated to Jenny Browns Common where the bird has taken to following some male tufted ducks around a large pond.

28/02/2015 Slimbridge WWT

Common Carne: Dawn and I woke up early and decided to give the new car another big run out and with the local reports slim on the ground I thought I would try again for the fudge duck down at Slimbridge.

After a quick McDonalds and a good run down to Gloucestershire we headed straight over to the Tower Hide where the fudge was last reported.


We waited about half an hour before a familiar face turned up.

Great to see some locals so far from our stomping groups up North, Peter & Sue, a great couple from Wrexham who share the same passion for birds and Tony from Halton a great local birder with a wealth of knowledge.

Ferruginous Duck: I waited with them for about half an hour before trying our luck at another site on Slimbridge where the duck could be found.


On the way Dawn and I got distracted by some lovely Crane showing well from one of the hides.

 Then out of nowhere Tony turned up saying "Aust the birds back, com'on" so we raced back up to Tower Hide and there it was, suckling about the reeds of the Knott Pool.

We watched the bird come out in the open water and paddle across to the nearby bank, giving us all some cracking views!

Thanks again to Tony who came back and gave me a heads up, I owe you a drink mate, cheers.