Scaup (Aythya marila)

This was taken in late March on the Island of Sanday in the Orkney Islands. They are a diving sea duck which migrate to the northern coastal waters for the winter. They mainly feed at night on mussels from the sea bed. They are ground nesting near water amongst grasses or rushes. The 8 - 11 eggs hatch after 26 days. They are sometimes difficult to tell apart from the tufted duck.

This was taken from the car (which we used as a hide) using a 1.7tc on a prime 500mm lens. To get the scaup in flight we used a fast shutter speed and a high ISO (due to poor light).