A view from the hide...male Pochard

Well today was a day of 2 halves....torrential rain this morning a few hours of sunshine in the afternoon. I spent a couple of hours sheltering in a hide with a flask of coffee to stave off the cold. Low and behold the clouds parted and out came the sun. It's amazing how quickly the birds react and come swimming out from cover. This male Pochard was the first one to catch my eye...he was also a new tick for the year bringing my yearly total to 97....looking forward to number 100.

Common Pochard:

The common pochard is a medium-sized diving duck. The scientific name is derived from Greek aithuia an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and Latin ferina, "wild game", from ferus, "wild".