Grey Phalaropes
Grey Phalaropes
Plenty of balls
Nice comparison with Black-headed Gull
Goldeneye
Great Northern Diver
Great Northern Diver
Yet another very windy weekend for us in the Midlands so we headed down the M40 for an hour to Farmoor Reservoir. The £1 parking fee is nether here nor there but we fancied a good walk but on concrete rather than slugging through the mud in wellies. Star attraction were two Grey Phalaropes that were putting on a real show for the local birders and photographers. Despite the 40 mph wind the birds were feeding really well and didn’t seem bothered about the audience or the waves. I crouched as low as possible to photograph the birds from the patch and was quite pleased with results given the limitation of the camera. Looking at the photos closely it seemed one bird was an adult whilst the other a first winter.
The wind on the bottom corner of the Reservoir was so strong it made it difficult to walk straight however on reaching the far side and more cover it was more comfortable. We found six Goldeneye quite close trying to get some shelter and there was a huge count of Great Crested Grebes. A stunning Grey Wagtail darted around the end of the causeway as we continued our walk to the other side.
The wind on the bottom corner of the Reservoir was so strong it made it difficult to walk straight however on reaching the far side and more cover it was more comfortable. We found six Goldeneye quite close trying to get some shelter and there was a huge count of Great Crested Grebes. A stunning Grey Wagtail darted around the end of the causeway as we continued our walk to the other side.
After a great deal of searching we found a Great Northern Diver centrally located however as we turned back towards the car the Diver drifted towards us enabling some fantastic views and a couple of images. I do love watching Divers and I’m really hoping I get to see some up in Scotland in May.
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