Monday, December 03, 2018

Red-crested Pochard another first for Halifax

News broke today that Pete Smith had just found a stunning drake Red-crested Pochard at Cold Edge Dams. Me and Andy C arrived on site at 13.45PM and found the bird on the lower dam. First thing to check is it fully winged, it was, second has it got any rings on its legs, photo number 4 says it hasn't, can we tick it, I would have to say yes, it showed no sign of captivity and spent most of its time diving for food. This is another first for Calderdale and well worth a look its probably the best Red-crested Pochard Ive ever seen. Just realised I don't think anyone picked it in the sweep.

Hebden Bridge Birders Meeting tomorrow 4th DEC , x=mas quiz...cheers

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4 comments:

AndyC said...

Great photos ....dodgy duck , time will tell , ??? ....well its a beauty and well worth going to see.....!!

7:25 pm
David Sutcliffe said...

Well done Pete, a great find. What a belter. Nice shots Nick. A great looking duck and a big surprise. This bird was certainly not tame but who knows when wildfowl are in so many collections. It would be nice to think it is a truly wild bird but I guess we will never know for sure (?)

8:18 pm
heavy birder said...

Interesting that Rare and Scarce Birds in Yorkshire, Wilson and Slack gives a graph of maximum monthly totals in Yorkshire which peak from mid to late November. Ducks are always a problem who's to say that the 2 Tufties and 2 Teal that were also present were genuine wild birds. I think we must look at the evidence fully winged, no rings, the right time of year and give it the benefit of doubt unless otherwise proven.

8:43 pm
Bradshaw Rambler said...

Wild or tame it's an absolute beaut.
John

9:01 pm

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