Like tufties, shovellers have only a token presence on the West Park lake except in winter. This year, once again, it’s been one pair which spend their entire time close to the shelter of an island.
Numbers have started to rise again. The day these pictures were taken there were five birds: three brightly coloured males and two females. If the previous patterns are a guide, that will be rising to ten or just over, males slightly predominating.
As the numbers have risen, they have also been getting bolder in coming closer towards the shore to eat.
Neither shovellers nor tufted ducks take any offerings from the people who come to feed the ducks. Tufties dive down to the bottom. Shovellers have a bill which broadens and flattens at the end. That’s what gets them their name. They swim round the water in a tight circle, often in pairs or slightly larger groups, with their bills just under the surface, patiently sifting the same small patch of water for food.