Ring-necked Drake, Little Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit and Dipper Chicks

The highlight here is the Ring-necked Drake seen at Murton NR, but the Little Ringed Plover is also one of our rarer birds, this one at Loch Leven. The Black-tailed Godwit should be in it's breeding grounds further north but some birds do breed in the UK. The two Dipper chicks were being fed by their parents and were sitting on a branch above the rain swollen South Esk.

The second photo shows a comparison between the Ring-necked Drake and a Tufted Drake. The RN has a larger head with a crown, a white flash at the front of a light grey flank and a grey bill with a white ring and black tip. The shape of "s curve" of the flank is more pronounced in the Tufted and it also has a crest behind its head.