Oldsquaw

In North American English this was the name once given to the bird we know as the Long-tailed Duck – a migratory sea duck found in northern Europe, North America, and Asia. In the UK it’s usually seen around northern coasts in winter, although the one sighting I’d had of Long-tailed Duck previously was a distant view off the North Norfolk coast. At the weekend, however, I was pleased to get the chance to see a first winter drake that had turned up at Fen Drayton Lakes in Cambridgeshire.

I read somewhere that of all diving ducks, the Long-tailed Duck spends the most time underwater relative to time on the surface and that was certainly true of this bird because it was constantly diving, which made it very difficult to photograph [and indeed to watch].  I don’t think it stayed on the surface longer than 4 or 5 seconds at a time - and often less than that...

But perseverance paid off and I managed a few photos from its brief appearances...