Sunny diver

After a morning preparing tenders and answering emails, I was more then ready for a bracing afternoon walk. Although the sun was shining, there was a brisk south-easterly wind that made it feel decidedly chilly. It was also much harder to spot birds on Gunwade Lake among the choppy waves.

Again, I did a complete circuit, and was well over half way round before I spotted the great northern diver again. On the way I had good views of several goosander (so many around this year!) and spotted my first goldeneye of 2021. I spent some time watching a flotilla of tufted ducks, mostly males but with a scattering of females. These ducks are usually quiet, but this group were decidedly vociferous, their calls varying from a short braying to an almost bubbling sound - spring has definitely stimulated their hormones. 

After watching the diver for a while I walked across to the flood meadows, where the water is dropping nicely, leaving plenty of prime habitat for dabbling ducks and geese. Sadly, I didn't manage to see any snipe, but the shoveler were looking particularly splendid in the late afternoon sun - with the males getting quite aggressive with each other at times.