Dabchicks

It wasn't a good day for Vitamin D production, not a hint of sun or blue sky, and the light declining early in the afternoon when I was at Leighton Moss.  Thank goodness for astronomically high ISO's, how did we manage on days like this in the old days of slide film when even ISO 400 was pretty grainy?

It was grebey on the Causeway Pool. An elegant great crested grebe was patrolling close to the shore, and he/she looked to be transitioning to breeding plumage. The stars of the afternoon were the dabchicks (otherwise known more prosaically as little grebes). These two are hanging out together, and they are surprisingly vocal when they circle each other as here. I was interested to note how their feathers look quite water-logged, which is unusual in water birds that spend a lot of time diving, where the oiled plumage usually sheds water in the proverbial water off a duck's back style.

On this visit, the wind outside the hide was too strong for me to hold Big Len steady. So for once I went inside and was in splendid isolation, a relatively quiet day for visitors by today's standards at the Reserve.