December 1st

There are more long-tailed ducks out at Balcomie and they were showing well this morning. After a week of wind and rain, the sea was flat calm with a diffuse grey winter light highlighting the strikingly marked males. There were about 20 long-tailed ducks in total in the bay and more came past Fife Ness later. The number of common scoters at Balcomie is also much higher than usual, with a flock of about 30 still about, although much further out than the long-tails. Both species feed on the same thing – mostly molluscs like mussels, and also crustaceans – so perhaps feeding conditions are better than usual this winter.

Male long-tailed duck