Bird Watching or Twitching in Andalucia Southern Spain
April 2004, Pochard, Aythya farina
Not all those ducks are mallards. This one is a pochard and they can be seen in small numbers at either of the lagoons at Sotogrande. This photograph was taken in January. The pochard will often associate with mallards, teal and its close relation the red crested pochard. The difference is in the bill, the red crested having a red/orange bill, the normal pochard having a grey tip to its black and white bill. Most pochards seen here are winter visitors but there are reports of some breeding pairs. You should just have time to see one before they migrate back to Central Europe and the Russian steppes in mid to late April