ML216018191

Age and sex

Adult Female - 1

Observation details

A male and a female bird. They were small diving ducks that dove repeatedly to feed. The female was overall brown in colour with greyish brown flanks. The male was starkly dark (black) and white (bright white sides) with a purplish gloss to his head. Both birds had yellow eyes without contrasting eye rings, blue-grey bills with black tips and thin pale rings around their bills between the black tips and the rest of their bills. Both birds had tufts at their napes - the female had a small brown tuft, and the male had a long black tuft. Watched for a long time using 8 X binoculars as they fed (by diving), preened, and rested on the pond from ranges between 20 and 50 m. Thiese are long staying, frequently reported birds. Photos attached, including one showing the pair in the same frame.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 80D

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

400

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/320 sec

Dimensions

2756 pixels x 1837 pixels

Original file size

4.55 MB