Ring Necked Duck

Today, in the teeth of a biting North Easterly wind at St Gothian, myself, John Swann and Brian Dodds captured this Drake Ring Necked Duck. This American species is usually an annual visitor to Cornwall but sometimes can be an escapee from private collections. They can be difficult to distinguish from Tufted duck when swimming with them, the points to look for are the lack of tuft, the white band on its beak, the size and shape of the beaks nib, and the white shoulder spur that graduates to grey on the flank. Don't look for a ring on its neck because it hasn't got one. Species of note seen today are as follows
1 Ring Necked Duck, 10 Knot at Copperhouse 2 Red Breasted Merganser 4 Goosander 1 Slavonian Grebe at Carnsew Basin 1 Pacific Diver at Marazion.