Lesser Scaup on Round Lough
Every winter I try to check some lakes in County Cavan for wildfowl. The main reason for this is that it gets fairly tedious checking the same lakes in south Monaghan and the change of scenery is always good. In previous winters my checks in Cavan have proven completely fruitless with Greenland White-fronted Goose and a hybrid Pochard x Tufted Duck being the best I could dig out. Despite having a successful start to the winter locally with two self-found Ring-necked Ducks on my local patch including a lovely first-winter female as well as a drake Greater Scaup (which are getting quite tricky to dig out each winter), I was itching to get back into County Cavan for a chance at rare diving ducks. When Aidan Kelly found Lesser Scaup on Lough Sheelin, I decided the next chance I got I would try for it and then spend the rest of the day checking other lakes. On Sunday the 5th of December 2021, I headed over to Lough Sheelin and pretty much immediately picked up Aidan’s Lesser Scaup in among