Plucky little ducky

The water fowl in the park pond consists mainly of Canada Geese and Mallards, but in the colder months sometimes something different appears and hangs around for a while. This small diving duck showed up about two weeks ago, and the closest I can get to identifying it is a lesser scaup. I've poured through bird books because I'm not satisfied with that answer.

I was thinking today about why I find this duck so fascinating. Part of it is that it's something different, but it's also because he's small and alone.

The picture above gives some indication of how small this guy is. I should say "gal" because it's probably female. She's on the left and is dwarfed by the three Canada Geese. On the upper right are two Mallards behind a fourth goose.