Can anyone identify Freaky Duck??

Not sure but I bet he'd taste really good with a little raspberry jalapeno glaze.

You'd have to catch him first, he's a fast and feisty little birdy, who we've come to love and adore. Long live Freaky Duck!!

BUMP

Can't help with that one, honey_rose, but while we're on the subject, see if you can come up with an ID for this one, too.

not to be confused with freaky duck rog, that is freeky duck.

Wasn't there a dance called the freeky deek, or something? Elmore Leonard used it as a book title.

So do we think he's a crossbreed? Or is he actually 'something'?

Well, I've been called freaky before but never a cross-breed.

OK, ok, ok. I'm getting out my bird books..

First of all, about how big is it?

I sent the link off to one of my e.s. pals, and she's forwarded it on to some ornithology types.

She wondered if it was an immature of whatever it turns out to be.

It almost looks like a brant, but i've found no images of a brant which match it exactly. The pintail brant has a range from the upper midwest of the United States to Newfoundland and Labrador, which means that it shouldn't be found in England. The term brant can also be confusing because it is also applied to sea-going geese, and that is no goose. From the plumage, though, it certainly looks like a duck, and not a drake.

By the way, look at the plumage. It is the mottled kind of plumage of female birds, which allows them to blend in with the background whether on the water or sitting on a nest. That's a duck (a girl), not a drake (a boy). I could be wrong, but i doubt it. You should think in terms of "she" and not "he."

It might also be a grebe, rather than a duck or a brant, but so far, the images of grebes i found in a search for "grebe+England" have been crested grebes, so i've not found anything that looks like that.

Looking at it again, it could be a drake (a "boy"), it's hard to say. The plumage is mottled, but there is also some color at the wing tips. Hard to say--interesting looking critter.

So far I'm looking at the female common scoter..

Eclipse Mandarin Drake
EhBeth passed this on and asked for help. I checked out my "Birds of Britain and Europe" and got stumped. So I checked with a couple of friends who are avid birders, with experience all over the world. They say it is a Mandarin Duck - a drake in eclipse plumage.
When I went back to my book to see why I had dismissed the Mandarin, I saw that it looked much like the female Mandarin, but the beak was the wrong color. Then I read the fine print: "Eclipse and immature drakes can be told from duck by bill." In other words, it has a male beak, not the gray female beak. Oops. This bird is a native of China, but has been introduced in Europe.

That's neat.

Thanks Mab - please tell your friends the help is appreciated.

A mandarin duck eh? Cool, smoke it with burning tea leaves. When you serve it (whole), make sure the head is facing the most important guest at the table.

Wow! Thank you! I compared a picture of a male in eclipse plummage from wiki and it's uncanny.

I'm shocked. Where's he come from??! He's the only one round there and he just seems to get along with the other ducks no problem. V strange. He's soooo pretty though!

I'm in love. *wub*

Thank you so much for your help guys, and your friend's help!!!

Freakyduck is now identified. I'm still mystified as to where he came from though.