We’ve been fortunate to have a rare avian visitor in Cardiff recently, a drake Lesser scaup (Aythya affinis), a bird more usually seen in North America, a ‘Nearctic vagrant’ as it’s described in an excellent photo identification guide on the Bird guides website. I first saw this bird (a lifer for me) on 4 April at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve, where it was snoozing among the flock of Tufted ducks and Great crested grebes. With its glossy green-tinged head and grey mantle I could pick it out easily enough, though, with its similarity to Greater scaup, I would’ve struggled to identify it as a Lesser scaup if I hadn’t been told what it was.

That Bird Guides article describes the Lesser scaup as having the small, compact body proportions of a Tufted duck and the plumage of a Greater scaup but with a distinctive head shape – this is less rounded than a Tufted duck, is tuft-less, and has a steeper forehead with a rear crown ‘bump’.

The bird has moved around the local area, from a couple of different spots in Cardiff Bay to north Cardiff’s Lisvane reservoir, then back to the Bay again. I got a second, closer look on 8 April, though the bird kept its head down and snoozed all the time I was nearby. Obviously, the long flight from North America is very tiring!