strange bird???

[jetty]

hi,new to this forum,the reason i regestered is my father has spotted, and taken pics of a bird he has never seen before in his life and he is 70 years old........he is not an expert on birdwathching but he does know a lot about types of birds etc.......

this bird he spotted was in a beck at skinningrove [north east coast in between redcar and whitby] it was swimming in the beck with a flock of mallards,the bird in question had a body,feet and legs of a duck very simular to the mallards,but it had a beige coloured head and a beak the same as a comerant[longer than a ducks not as wide and it curled downwards at the end] his explanation of the bird was body of a duck with the head of a beige comerant.with a white flash above its hip like a comerant.......he was brought up in the village and has never seen anything like it before in 70 years and was baffled by it...........at 1st he thought it was a greeb but on a closer look said it wasnt.....it had a nonger body.....

does anyone have any idea what it could be