Showy Divers

On Tuesday (29/12) I had much of the morning free and with the weather forecast seemingly clear and bright, I decided to drive over to Farmoor Reservoir to enjoy the adult and two juvenile Great Northern Divers that had taken up residence in the NE corner of the F2 basin.







The birds were on show immediately and at times came really close during their feeding cycle, particularly the 2 juvenile birds which regularly were seen feeding around the fishing pontoons close to shore. Interestingly, they were regularly producing a single-noted contact call which was cool and something I hadn't observed before. It was good to see the adult too. I can't actually think of a time when I've seen another inland adult so a probable first for me.

Sods law dictated on the weather/light side of things unfortunately. It was clear pretty much everywhere except for a big dull, grey lump of cloud sat over the early morning sun. Typical!

Thankfully, 20 minutes before I had to leave, the cloud cleared allowing the opportunity to enjoy and photograph the divers in nice, golden winter sunshine.