Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer)

OTHER NAMES: Common Loon, Great Northern Loon

Latin Etymology: Gavia (name in Latin for an unidentified seabird) immer (Norwegian name for species)

Two adult breeding plumage Great Northern Diver at Teslin Lake, Yukon, Canada - August 2024

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 4.1kg  /  Length: 65-91cm  /  Wingspan: 137cm
UK AMBER LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The Divers, and Great Northern Diver in particular have long been a bit of a bugbear for me, I've looked for them on several occasions in places they've supposed to be and it wasn't until I wasn't looking for one that I happened to stumble across it!  The Great Northern is the largest of the three regular divers to frequent our waters but also the only one that doesn't breed.  They are roughly cormorant sized and shaped but are stockier with long dagger like beaks.  They do as the name suggest, spend a lot of time underwater hunting for fish meaning they can, as this one did, just vanish into nowhere despite being on a flat lake with nowhere to hide.

- Related Species -
ORDER: Gaviiformes
FAMILY: Gaviidae
GENUS: Gavia
SUBSPECIES: None - monotypic

 - Sighting Locations -

CANADA - Breeds over most of the Country except Arctic and Great Plains
  - CHICAGO TO ALASKA ROADTRIP 2024: - Seen in Yukon

UNITED KINGDOM - Scarce Winter Migrant (approx. 2600 birds)

 - Wintering bird seen on Queen Mother Reservoir (1 Winter plumage adult in 2012).  Seen off Cornwall.

UNITED STATES - Breeds on Northern Border, Winters along nearly entire Coast
 - CHICAGO TO ALASKA ROADTRIP 2024: Seen in Alaska

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)

OTHER NAMES: Buff-bellied Pipit

Latin Etymology: Anthus (a small bird mentioned by Pliny) rubescens ("reddish")

Adult American Pipit (probable subspecies A. r. rubescens) at Queen Mother Reservoir, London - December 2012

Featured Subspecies: Anthus rubescens rubescens (?)
Weight: 21g  /  Length: 14-17cm  /  Wingspan: 24cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

I will state at this point, that ordinarily, endearing as this little fellow is, I don't have any interest in twitching hyper-rare small brown birds.  However, in this case, as its presence had caused the Queen Mother Reservoir, which normally has no access to be open to the public (and thus allow me to try and see the Red-necked Grebe it was also hosting) I made an exception, and he proved far more obliging than the Grebe which I failed to see at all.

Anyway, the Buff-Bellief (or American) Pipit is basically the local version of the Water and Rock Pipits found in the UK.  This individual probably got blown from Greenland or Eastern America, and the species in general has less than 20 records in the UK in 100 years, making it by far the rarest species I've photographed in the UK so far.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Genus: Anthus
Subspecies: A. r. japonicus, A. r. pacificus, A. r. rubescens, A. r. alticola

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - Ultra rare vagrant

 - Vagrant bird seen on Queen Mother Reservoir (1 adult in 2012).  .

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)

OTHER NAMES: Oldsquaw

Latin Etymology: Clangula ("to resound") hyemalis ("Winter")

Adult female Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) at Chatham Harbour, Kent - January 2012

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 740kg  /  Length: 44-60cm  /  Wingspan: 71cm
UK GREEN LIST / IUCN Red List Vulnerable

The long-tailed duck is one of the UKs four specialist sea-ducks, and is one of the harder to see.  Unlike Eiders and Common Scoters it does not breed in this country, but Winters here from further north.  From the picture here, you may be wondering about the name, as the there isn't a great deal noticeable about the tail, but, in summer it will gain a spectacularly long upwards curving tail practically the length of the duck again, plus a more striking sharp black and white plumage.  A winter bird, like this one, has got significantly more drab plumage and so isn't quite so impressive.  This specific individual was a bit of an oddity - they are normally found only in flocks from Northumbria upwards, while this individual was alone in a harbour in Kent and had been for months - presumably it had got separated from other birds and blown off course - but as it had apparently been there for months, at least it appeared to have settled to life there and was probably far more tolerant of humans than normal.

Related Species:
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Clangula
Subspecies: none - monotypic

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - Scarce Wintering species (11,000 birds) 

 - Slightly off-course birds seen at Chatham Harbour in January 2012, and another at Queen Mother Reservoir

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .