Long-Tailed Ducks

Walking home along the sea wall at the back of the beach to the southeast of Golspie the other day, we noticed a commotion in the water a hundred metres or so offshore. It was caused by half a dozen black-and-white ducks which turned out to be....

....male long-tailed ducks.

Long-tailed ducks are sea ducks which migrate south from the tundra coasts of the northern hemisphere during the winter. This is the first time we've seen them and we were very lucky to do so, on two counts: firstly, they aren't common off Scotland's east coast, even though this is one of the best places in the British Isles to see them, and secondly, they are endangered, listed as a Schedule 1 species under The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

In amongst the males were one or two females (right) which only managed to surface for a few moments before being chased back underwater by the amorous males.