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The
Tufted Duck
The tufted duck can be seen at Loch Ruthven near Farr. Its name in
Latin is Aythya Fullgula. The male is black with white patches on
the and has small yellow crested eyes. It is a medium sized bird and
when flying you can see black and white stripes on the wings. In the
summer it is most likely found in Northern Scotland, like Farr for
example, but in winter it is more likely to find them in Wales, Southern
England and Southern Ireland. They lay up to eight to eleven eggs
which take about twenty five days to hatch. A male Tufted Duck is
mostly silent except that when during courting it gives a low whistle.
The female makes a gruff growling call. Tufted ducks both male and
females love to eat molluscs, insects, and some plants.
The Slavonian Grebe
I am writing about the Slavonian Grebe that may be seen near
Loch Ruthven near Farr. Its generic name is Podiceps and this Latin
name means vent footed referring to the position of the feet at the
rear of the body. The colour of the body in winter at the top of it
is black and the bottom of it is white. In winter it has an orange
neck and the bottom half the body is orange as well. It has a black
top of the body and most of its head is black except for a little
tuft of orange at the back of its head. It looks like a duck swimming
when at rest. Its wingspan is 59 to 69 centimetres and it weighs about
360 to 450 grams. It usually has 4 to 5 eggs that are white. It's
call is like the trill that the little Grebe makes. You can see it
in Scotland from Inverness to Edinburgh in summer and in winter you
can find it in coastal areas in the UK. It eats fish and insects and
larvae. |
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