A BIG duck

[OldGeezer]

Hi, my first post here.
I have been expanding my photography to include birds - in a small way. Today I was out for a walk near a local saltwater lagoon where I've previously photographed Cormorants, Egrets etc (Nikon with Sigma 150-500) when I spotted a pair of very large (see attendant Mallards) ducks. More goose sized but not I think geese. Unfortunately I only had a little P&S camera in my pocket and it was dark so I had to crop the attached terrible pic from a wobbly iso 1600 snap. Good enough to identify I hope. I did a quick search on the RSPB site but it couldn't identify it. Looking through the duck section didn't help either. I'll try to get over there (hurricanes and torrential rain notwithstanding) and shoot something a bit better; a lot better I hope.


Meanwhile, help - what are they?

Roy

[epops]

mallard x muscovey

[OldGeezer]

Thanks Matt.
Mallards I know! How is it that the Muscovy (whose name I certainly recall) doesn't appear in my reference book or get identified by the RSPB identification engine? In fact it doesn't appear in the RSPB listing of birds that appear regularly in the UK. Is it a rarity?
Roy

[tombom]

Muscovy ducks are native to South America, but they've been domesticated and are sometimes kept on farms and stuff here. They're recognisable usually by a big red wattle on their beak.

That's a pretty incredible duck, though.

[david156]

Originally Posted by OldGeezer

Thanks Matt.
Mallards I know! How is it that the Muscovy (whose name I certainly recall) doesn't appear in my reference book or get identified by the RSPB identification engine? In fact it doesn't appear in the RSPB listing of birds that appear regularly in the UK. Is it a rarity?
Roy

They are an escapee which is starting to breed in the wild. It isn't on the full british list as a native bird but there is talk of it being transfered to this list. it has to be proved that muscovy have a sustainable wild population