Q&A YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Q I am not strong on identifying my gulls and, having debated with friends, we could not make our minds up on the ID of these birds seen in Inverness-shire in January 2022. The seaduck was taken in the Moray Firth around the same time. Any thoughts, please? Babs Moore, via email

A Birdwatch Editor Josh Jones replies: “With their pale grey upperparts, streaky heads, yellow bills with red gonys spots, pink legs and black outer primaries, the gulls are winter-plumaged adult European Herring Gulls – which is the default large gull in many areas of Britain. “The duck is a little trickier from this single image. With a rounded head, large white ‘blaze’ and overall bulkiness, this feels like a female Greater Scaup. However, the upperparts appear darker, contrasting with the flanks, and the bill has an extensively dark tip – both features of Tufted Duck. If not a pure Greater Scaup, it could possibly be a hybrid. I’d like to see more images to be more confident of the identification.”