Photographed at a pond in Edinburgh on 21 Jan 14 and I'm not sure what it is. Research suggests a female Goldeneye but not sure. It did swim with its head very low in the water which I haven't seen before.
Photographed at a pond in Edinburgh on 21 Jan 14 and I\'m not sure what it is. Research suggests a female Goldeneye but not sure. It did swim with its head very low in the water which I haven\'t seen before.
Actually I got a few new birds at this pond (Figgate Pond), during my two visits, as I also saw my first Goosanders and my first Gadwalls.
I was brought up in Edinburgh and had never heard of this place before and only happened upon it by chance on the internet. So for anyone in Edinburgh interested in birds, particularly wildfowl, it's definitely worth a visit, although beware of the boardwalk in the winter as it can be very slippy (as I know to my physical and financial cost!).
So along with the Goldeneye, Goosanders and Gadwalls I also saw Shovelers, Tufted Ducks, Mallards, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swans and Canada Geese. There were also gulls, but then there always are.
There is also Barrow's Goldeneye, but I believe that species does not occur on the British Isles. I have both species in my area during winter so I'm used to differentiating them.
A habit of British bird guides that irritates me immensely. Even the exceptional Collins UK and Europe guide would call the 'common' an 'international modifier' and put it in brackets and lighter type.
If there's only one local species and you're quickly jotting down what you've seen it makes perfect sense just to write 'coot', for example, or if you're chatting with other local birders, or filling out a sightings board, but if you're going to the trouble of publishing a book you ought to be able to put the full common name in!
Barrow's I believe is just about on the British list as a vagrant; only place it breeds this side of the Atlantic is Iceland. Bufflehead is in a sense the third Goldeneye.
