Lake Constance (of the Bodensee in German) is a huge lake on the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The place is very popular among tourists of these and many other countries, with extensive tourist infrastructure in place in most towns around the lake. However, some excellent birding is also to be had at a few spots, with waterfowl, waders, and some passage migrants being particularly interesting.
I was visiting extended family members in the area and used the opportunity to explore a few parts of the lake for the first time. I did not have the chance to visit several of the well-known birding sites, but still got a good impression of the birds that can be found in the area. Unfortunately, the weather was very bad – cold, wet, and dark – meaning that I was also not able to get nice sightings of the (rather few) birds that I did see.
A nice sighting was of a small group of Eurasian Tree Sparrows in some gardens bordering farmland at the edge of the lake. This species is declining in Germany and although it is not rare, my sightings have usually been distant or brief. The birds seemed very lethargic, allowing close observation of their plumage – rather more colourful than their close cousins, the House Sparrows.
I did see quite a few species of waterfowl, including Eurasian Teal, Northern Shoveler, and Red-crested Pochard. However, my main quarry was Ferruginous Duck, which I’ve never seen before and was recorded here repeatedly over the last few weeks. I eventually spotted an odd duck among some Common Pochards and Tufted Ducks. This bird, particularly the combination of dark plumage, whitish-yellow eye, and bill and head shape, was very unusual. The windy conditions and distance of the bird prevented me from obtaining good views, but I suspected a hybrid Ferruginous Duck x Common Pochard. I managed to take some record shots, and looking at these made me more confident that this is what it is. However, I am no duck hybrid expert by any means and it may well be something else.
Whatever this duck species, I was happy to find such a confusing bird, although part of me was frustrated that if it indeed was a Ferruginous x Pochard hybrid, I was only half a genome away from a lifer. I looking forward both to my first Ferruginous Duck and exploring the many birding sites around Lake Constance more extensively.
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