A first in the wild on the South Coast for me today. A Long-Tailed Duck in Southampton Water off Hill Head today.

The Long-tailed Duck is a winter visitor to UK coastal waters, arriving from their arctic breeding grounds. The majority of these wintering birds in the UK are seen in the north, around Shetland, Orkney, and northeast Scotland. Smaller numbers are found further south along England’s east coast.

These sea ducks were formerly known as the “Oldsquaw” .