At the end of last week , I took a morning trip to Tooting Common in search of a Ferruginous Duck which had been seen there for a few days. This duck from the same group as Tufted Duck and Pochard is a declining species in Europe, thought mainly due to the drainage of wetlands. It once bred across mainland Europe but in many countries has disappeared as a breeding species over the last 20 years. It still breeds in central and eastern Asia. It occurs as a vagrant in small numbers in the UK. So a bird in London is unusual and well worth a trip to see.
Making my way across the Common I arrived at the small lake in the centre. There were good numbers of Duck, mostly Tufted with a few Shoveler. Also present were Mute Swans, Canada Geese and Cormorants. I also saw my first Redwing of the winter.
But no sign of the Ferruginous Duck. One problem is that being a juvenile female it lacks the Red-Brown plumage of a male, which gives the species it’s name. It looks very similar to a female Tufted Duck (as seen above) except for eye colour (dark not yellow), bill colour (dark), head shape and it’s smaller size.
After about an hour I was about to move on when I noticed a small Duck swim around a bush, Moving to get a better look, it was the Ferruginous Duck.
I watched it for a while before it swim back into cover and then I departed – mission successful.
It is still present this week so may have settled in for the winter.
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