A brief spell at the Moors Pools later yielded little, aside from the usual, though I was pleased to see a fieldfare guarding the apples on the path again. Perhaps one to try for on a brighter day.
Sunday started with a browse through pics on various websites and resulted in me heading to Clayhanger Marsh, the spot where I saw a hoopoe last year. This time it was for a black-throated diver that had been seen on one of the pools up there.
After getting local info as to how to find the lake (handy!) I wandered down to the bank and set up, setting the camera up using a passing mallard. Good thing I did, as seconds later, the diver surfaced virtually right in front of me! Needless to say I grabbed a few shots - what luck!
The diver then glided behind an island in the lake, and along with some birders who'd joined me by now, we guessed that it would appear around the other side, so moved over to wait for it. Another wise move as it appeared pretty close again.
Disappearing beneath the surface, it reappeared in a small hole in the ice at the edge of the pool. Rather than dive under again, it seemed to panic somewhat, and flap / slide / scuttle across the ice back to the open water again, which was amusing to observe.
After a bit of a preen, it headed out into deeper waters, and I didn't take another shot. By then though, I'd already fired off 230 pics! Enough I thought, and opted to head 10 miles north, to Cannock Chase.
The cloud seemed to follow me, and despite there being sunshine back home, I had to endure gloomy conditions at the feeding site, but still bagged shots of great, willow and coal tits, nuthatches and a female bullfinch.
Not a bad end to the day, and enough images to keep me amused during the dark evenings of the following working week.
1 comment:
Cracking Diver shots pete.
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