Going Loony

 Divers and grebes used be at the front of the field guides until birdy nerdy ornithological types decided to mix everything up and play with the order. They may have dropped down the pecking order in scientific terms but there were at the forefront of Alan Shorrock's and my thoughts when we paid a call to Rutland Water this morning. Great Northern Diver had been reported from near the dam while both Slavonian and Black-necked Grebes had been reported from other parts of the reservoir. Under grey and often drizzly skies we began by seeking out the diver.

Tufted Duck and Goosander

Our attempts to find the bird took us along part of the south shore and then some way along the dam but the diver eluded us. There wasn't that much on the water though a flock of about twenty five Goldeneye were my first of the winter, they were flushed by a bank angler soon after I found them. Three brownhead Goosanders were noted and while two were distant one did get fairly close before it flew off along the dam. Redwings are beginning to arrive in good numbers and several flocks were seen. I heard at least two Siskins flying over too suggesting that more of these may be arriving after a slow start.

Dabchick and Great Crested Grebe

From the dam we moved over to the North Arm where a Slavonian Grebe had been reported. A Great White Egret was the most obvious bird on arrival while a scan of the shoreline revealed a Green Sandpiper and a few Redshanks. Another birder who was accumulating quite a day list told Shozzer where the grebe was last seen and Alan soon found it with his scope. Although the Slav was distant I tried for a couple of record shots, poor light added to my woes but the results were slightly better than expected being a bit duff rather than abject dross. While munching his way through a late lunch Shozzer added to his laurels by picking out the Great Northern. We called the other chap over and the three of us enjoyed very distant views of the diver as it preened, my record shot is possibly one of the worst I've taken as you can find out for yourselves! An adult Yellow-legged Gull rounded off our birding efforts here.

Slavonian Grebe and Great Northern Diver (honestly!)

Once lunch was over we ignored the chance of seeing the Black-necked Grebe on Lagoon Three and instead chose to visit Hambleton Peninsular in the hope of getting better views of the Great Northern. Sadly for us the diver had disappeared by the time we got there and the only compensation was another Yellow-legged Gull. With the light failing we opted to head to the Grainstore Brewery in Oakham where even a couple of pints of their excellent beer could not improve my opinion of that GND record shot!