Scaly

I went to Arrow Valley Lake in Redditch today, where the birding wasn't especially exciting, but on the plus side I didn't slip on a wooden fishing peg, go flying, and fracture a vertebra. So, swings and roundabouts.

Bird of the day was the redhead goosander I've included in my Facebook post, but I wasn't able to get close no matter how many times (several) I scuttled around the lake in pursuit of her, so all my photos are distant and heavily cropped.

This cormorant was more obliging, and I'm always happy to post a cormorant, because they're handsome birds and I'm very fond of them. Their scaly-looking wing feathers - which you tend not to see unless the light hits them just so - always put me in mind of dragons. Small, quarrelsome dragons, with slightly mad green eyes.

Best viewed full-screen, if you have the time.