29 Sunday Oct 2017
They always make me smile so it’s a joy to see Tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula) back on my local lakes here in south Wales. These ducks tend not to live in Wales year-round: instead, they spend most of the year in England and Scotland, only heading south-west when the days get shorter and the temperatures cooler. Numbers throughout Britain also increase during the winter months as birds from Iceland and northern Europe head to our slightly milder isles.
25 Saturday Feb 2017
Tags
Aythya fuligula, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Tufted duck
I’ve blogged about Tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula) before (back in January 2016 and, quite recently, when I caught them landing at Cosmeston Lakes) but, with that adorable little topknot of dark plumage, they are just such delightful creatures that I can’t resist sharing some recent photos. I hope they make you smile as much as me.
06 Monday Feb 2017
Tags
birding, birds landing on lake, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Tufted duck
‘Cosmeston Lakes West Lake is pleased to announce the safe arrival of Tufted duck flight 0502 from Cosmeston Lakes East Lake.’
24 Tuesday Jan 2017
Tags
bird feeding habits, birding, birdwatching, black-headed gulls, Coot, gulls stealing food, kleptoparasitism, Roath Park Lake, Tufted duck
Some time ago at Roath Park Lake I was intrigued to notice Black-headed gulls using Coots as their personal fishers, and I have since noticed this behaviour between the gulls and Tufted ducks as well, though I haven’t yet seen them using this feeding method with the other water bird species at the lake.
These gulls eat different food from the coots and ducks – gulls eat insects, worms, scraps, etc whereas the ducks and coots are mostly vegetarian, though the tufties will also eat some insects – so, presumably, the gulls aren’t actually stealing food the other birds would eat themselves.
The ducks and coots dive down for food, while the gulls float patiently waiting for them to surface. When they do, the gulls paddle over to see if there’s anything interesting for them to steal. The coots and tufties don’t seem to object to the gulls, even though they’re doing all the work. I guess they would be doing the diving anyway and, if the gulls aren’t actually stealing their food, then they’ve nothing to lose. The official term for creatures that take the food other creatures have caught, prepared or collected is kleptoparasitism, hence my title.
When researching this post, I located an excellent article that goes into much more detail than I have about this and similar bird behaviour: ‘Food usurpation by waterfowl and waders’ by Juan A. Amat can be found here.
15 Sunday Jan 2017
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Grey wagtail, Jay, Pied wagtail, Roath Park, Roath Park Lake, robin, Tufted duck
My imminent house-moving was getting to me today and, as I’m already about two-thirds packed with a week still to go, I allowed myself an afternoon off for a long walk around my local parks for a Nature fix.
It always amazes me how many species of birds I can see in a walk around Roath Park Lake. Today it was 28: Carrion crow, Magpie, Jay, Robin, Dunnock, Lesser black-backed gull, Black-headed gull, Canada goose, Barnacle goose, Greylag goose, Mallard, Manky mallard and Aylesbury duck, Coot, Moorhen, Pochard, Tufted duck, Teal, Shoveler, Pied wagtail, Grey wagtail, Redwing, Song thrush, Cormorant, Mute swan, House sparrow, Feral pigeon and Woodpigeon (though purists might not count the Aylesbury duck, Manky mallards or Feral pigeons as extra species). Still, I think it’s an impressive total. These are just a very small selection of the photos I took …
12 Monday Dec 2016
Tags
birding, birds, birdwatching, Greylag goose, jackdaw, Mallard, Moorhen, Roath Park Lake, Tufted duck
Just to show that the birds of Roath Park Lake aren’t all vicious killers (see yesterday’s post for that horror story), here are some I photographed before the swans attacked.
There’s a little concrete ledge under the water at this end of the lake, which is just perfect for the water birds to sit on and preen but still have the chance for a quick watery getaway if needed. It’s also perfect for bird watchers to get a better look at the cute little Tufted ducks as you rarely see them out of the water. I think this little black-and-white male knows exactly how handsome he is!
Further around the lake I was entertained by three Jackdaws searching through the leaf litter for food. Just as I’ve seen blackbirds and thrushes do, they would grab the leaves and fling them to one side, then look back quickly for signs of any insect movement.
Still further along the path, I stopped and fed the seed from one of the two containers I was carrying firstly to one of the Barnacle geese, and then to the Greylag and Canada geese, Mallards and Feral pigeons that rapidly came to flock around me. This Moorhen came last but was still able to pick up a few seeds the bigger birds had missed. Their feathers have such beautifully rich colours.
And last but certainly not least was this very sleepy Greylag goose, standing apart from all the rest on the edge of the pavement at the end of the lake. As I watched it tucked one leg up under its plump body and, though it tried to keep an eye on me just in case I was a threat, its eyes gradually closed for a mid-afternoon snooze.
09 Saturday Jan 2016
Posted in birds, nature, nature photography
Tags
Every time I walk around my local lake these charming little ducks delight me as they dive to feed on the roots, seeds and buds of aquatic plants, clams and snails, aquatic insects and sometimes amphibians and small fish. Until 150 years ago, they were only winter visitors but the resident population of the Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) expanded rapidly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to the colonisation of British waterways by the small freshwater bivalve, the Zebra Mussel.
I particularly love their floppy little top-knot and it’s easy to see how they got their common name but, like most British birds, they’ve gained a wide variety of other vernacular names: black curre, black poker, black topping duck, black wigeon, doucker, douver, crested diver and magpie diver. Those last two seem particularly appropriate given their tufts and colours. However, though the males may look black and white, when you see them in the sunlight you soon realise their plumage has a range of colours, from brown and green to purple. And, personally, I think there’s something slightly demonic about that bright yellow eye, particularly in the male, where the colour contrast is greater.
earthstar 
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