Anyway, onto the purpose of this blog post; a friend and colleague, Chris Jackson, visited the Valley Road Washlands on the Day Brook in Nottingham (near City Hospital), on Wednesday. As well as a few Teal, he noted another duck, which he realised was something different.
It's clearly got some Pintail in it, judging from the bill pattern (albeit not so neat as on most male Pintail, and possibly showing a break in the black just behind the nail?); rounded brown head; dark eye; grey vermiculated flanks (and 'shoulder') and yellow ventral patch. But what else has it got in it? Pochard has been suggested, with the bird shown on this blog provided as support for this theory. However, I can't see much resemblance between that bird and this one. The Nottingham bird is surely too dark on the upperparts for a Pochard x Pintail cross (or vice versa), and I can't see any other particularly pro-Pochard features either, except the blackish breast and rear end (which certainly aren't unique to Pochard).
So what about Red-crested Pochard..?? I know the head doesn't suggest this species (nor Pochard), but the dark breast patch is large, and the black extends quite far up the neck, curving round the bottom of the head - both of which are rather RCP-like features. The brown upperparts would also support RCP, and the pale shoulder patch is in the same place as the white patches which RCP's sport... But maybe I'm way off!
Whatever it is, it's an interesting looking bird. As for it's origin, Valley Road Washlands is pretty close to Arnot Hill Park, where various unusual wildfowl frequently turn up (most recently a pure white male Mandarin, sporting a blue ring). I'd guess this hybrid comes from the same source in this locality...
Hybrids, don't you just love 'em!
Postscrip: See the Hybrid Birds blog for similar thoughts on this bird!
Postscrip: See the Hybrid Birds blog for similar thoughts on this bird!
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