Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula
Common/fairly common breeding species on gravel pits and similar water bodies, and common winter visitor.
Tufted Ducks: left, Barton Pits March 27th 2016 (Graham Catley); centre, Far Ings NR February 17th 2019 (John Clatkson); right, Grainthorpe May 5th 2019 (Mark Johnson)
The Atlas put the wintering population at around 2,500 birds and the breeding population at around 1,250 pairs in the late 1980s. The latter had increased dramatically from around 50 pairs in the 1960s. WeBS Online indicates that the Lincolnshire wintering population is still around 2,500 birds, but the breeding data provides conflicting information. BBS suggests there has been a small long-term decline from 1994 to 2019, and incidence of breeding has fallen over the last 10 years. The APEP4 adjusted population estimate gives a figure of 550 pairs in 2016 which looks low. The real position is probably somewhere between 550 and 1250 breeding pairs.
(Account as per new Birds of Lincolnshire (2021), included September 2022)