Winter birding on the North Yorkshire coast Part two - wildfowl

Sun 19th Jan, 2025

If you think lakes and ponds are the best places to watch ducks in winter, think again. In part two of his guide to seasonal birding on the coast, YCN's Mark James Pearson goes in search of Yorkshire's special seafaring wildfowl

Spring tides, white horses, crashing waves, rugged coastlines and an unmistakably saline taste in the onshore wind; hardly the kind of scenerio that most of us would associate with ducks. Gulls, divers, auks, perhaps; but surely not that diverse and characterful family of waterbirds, familiar to many as stalwarts of freshwater.

Thankfully for those of us lucky enough to dwell on the North Yorkshire coast, nothing could be further from the truth. The bays, harbours, and sheltered coves of our coastline provide perfect havens for a host of admirably hardy, seafaring ducks, from as far afield as Siberia, Finland and Iceland.

With the advantage of top-quality waterproofing, many ducks migrate over the ocean, often exploiting the option of resting on its surface; indeed, finding a duck which is generally associated with freshwater bobbing around happily on the open sea is not as uncommon as one might expect.

But while theoretically pretty much any duck species may be found along the coast, there's a handful which account for the vast majority of those present in any given winter. Broadly speaking, they can be divided into two groups: seaducks – i.e. those which actively seek a pelagic lifestyle (at least outside of their short breeding season), and generalists – i.e. those species which are adaptable and somewhat catholic in their choice of habitat.

Of the seaducks, perhaps the most familiar is the Common Eider. Well known (at least to those of us of a certain age) for their remarkably soft down, used to line their nests and, latterly, re-used as bedding for Homosapiens – Eiders are the quintessential seaduck, almost never straying
beyond the coast and the open ocean. Burly, thickset and yet supremely graceful, they're the masters of the wave-smashed shoreline, preferring areas of the coast where the seabed is rich in crustaceans, their principle food source.

Eiders are the largest of our seaducks, and despite their sometimes confusing immature and 'eclipse' plumage phases, size and shape alone are usually obvious enough for a positive ID. Adults are fairly straightforward at this time of year - males are a superb combination of white, black and mint green, while the female's plumage is a subtly vermiculated warm brown overall.

Common Scoters are the other default seaduck of the North Yorkshire coast in the winter. Much smaller, neater and daintier than Eiders, they're relatively easy to identify with reasonable views. Proportionally rather rotund and 'smooth-edged', Common Scoters are just as at home on the open waves, despite their more delicate build.

Male Common Scoters are jet black, with a patch of yellow on their relatively small bills; females are dark brown with a pale cheek patch, giving a capped appearance. They can be found anywhere along the coastline in ones, twos, small parties or even in large flocks.

Their rarer cousins Velvet Scoters are irregularly found along our coastline in winter in very small numbers, often as fly-bys past well-known watchpoints. However, they also have a penchant for joining flocks of Common Scoters, and with luck and patience, can be picked out from amongst the ranks of their more abundant brethren – look out for their diagnostic white wing-patch, larger overall size and more angular head and bill shape.

Altogether more elegant and rakish, Red-breasted Mergansers are a scarce but regular visitor to our shoreline, rarely seen on freshwater in winter (unlike their close relative the Goosander). Shaggy-crested and with a long, thin, slightly upturned bill, they're unmistakeable, and perhaps the least 'duck-like' of all our winter wildfowl.

Equally hardy and well-suited to the challenges of the North sea in winter, Long-tailed Ducks are one of our most alluring, photogenic and sought-after wildfowl species. With their patchwork brown and white plumage, females are appealing enough; but males, particularly in winter plumage, are a breathtakingly beautiful bird.

An ornate mosaic of dove-grey, snow-white and black, with long, pointed tail streamers,  fiery red eyes framed by white 'eyelashes' and a salmon-pink splash across the bill, they're almost surreally exotic, an impression further heightened by their relative rarity. However, our coastline always attracts small numbers in each winter, and some birds choose to extend their stay to weeks or even months at favoured locations.

Equally at home on saline and freshwater habitats, Goldeneyes are regular winter visitors in small numbers. Proportionally compact, Goldeneyes have an elliptical, almost oversized head (dark green in winter males, brown in all other plumages), which, along with their short, stubby bill, combines to give them a slightly comedic appearance. (Look out for the male's head-pumping courtship display, and you can lose the word 'slightly'.)

In addition, a host of generalist species often use coastal waters either temporarily (for example, when inland waters are frozen) or for more extended periods. Wigeon and Teal are particularly fond of sheltered bays, and may form large flocks at favoured sites; other species
which may be found less frequently include Shovelers, Mallards, Pintails and Tufted Ducks.

For the more obsessive among us, it's the time of year when it's always worth scrutinising the inshore waves for a much rarer relative of our more familiar seaducks, hidden within their sociable assemblies. With plenty of patience or luck (and usually a combination of
both), a King Eider or Surf Scoter might just be out there, waiting to be found on an otherwise uneventful midwinter day......