A female Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula, swimming in the rain with young chicks.
Photographed in Rothiemurchus Forest, Highland Region, in June.

The tufted duck is thinly but widely distributed throughout much of Scotland, inhabiting undisturbed shallow lakes generally below an altitude of 400 metres.

The British population of tufted ducks is around 7000 breeding pairs, with about 300,000 in continental Europe and a further 500,000 in Russia.

Location: Highland Region, Scotland.