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.
