Surprise Scaup

I was out shopping when Dave Cleal called to say that he had found a juvenile male Scaup at Little Marlow GP, my local patch.  I had not seen a Scaup on the lake for quite a long time, so I was reasonably keen to see this bird. I could not get down there until about 16:45 and the bird was still in the same area, not far from the cottages, regularly diving for food and preening.

While the bird was preening it raised it's legs out of the water and I noticed that the bird was un-ringed, which is encouraging as it suggests the bird is not an escape from captivity. The bird was in a transitional plumage with areas of the barred back showing through what was a juvenile plumage.  The head was very rounded with no sign whatever of a tuft.  The bill was fairly large, greyish with a black nail and no sign of any white behind the nail.

Greater Scaup (click on photos to enlarge)

Jackdaws - The roost has increased over recent weeks to about a 1000 birds.  Just a small part shown here.
Photographed about 17:45 with birds still arriving.