King George V Reservoir, searching for divers

An adult Great Northern Diver has been at the KGV Reservoir since the 17th of November. It was joined by a juvenile Black-throated Diver on the 1st of December. On the 23rd of December, a second Great Northern Diver was found.

Great Northern Divers have been regular visitors in recent years, having been seen in fourteen of the last nineteen years. Black-throated Divers however are a real rarity for this site. This individual is only the third record for the site and the first since 2013.

We headed up the ramp and soon found one of the Great Northern Divers in the middle of the south basin. It took several more scans before we finally found the Black-throated Diver, close to the west bank of the reservoir and the second Great Northern Diver was right next to it. As we walked further along the east bank a Sparrowhawk flew from the grass bank and headed across the River Lea into the field beyond. There had been three Black-necked Grebes on the south basin in December, today we only managed to find one.

Great Northern Diver

Another birding year over and a new one just delayed

The usual excitement and anticipation for the start of a new birding year were somewhat lessened when I checked the weather forecast for January 1st. My home county the bordering Counties, and those further afield were all forecast to have heavy rain throughout the day. Having recently managed to rid myself of a nasty cough and cold, I was reluctant to spend all day in the pouring rain. The forecast for the following couple of days however was much more encouraging. 

We began the new birding year a day late and decided to spend it at Abberton Reservoir, within my home county of Essex. We started by scanning the waters on either side of Layer Breton Causeway. Highlights being a male and two redhead Smew several Goldeneye, two Great White Egrets, and a Marsh Harrier.

We moved on to Layer de la Haye Causeway. Four Bewick Swans, four Black-necked Grebes a single Slavonian Grebe, several Goosanders, a Green Sandpiper, and two Ruff were all seen from the causeway. We scanned a sizeable flock of Pochard and Brian found the Canvasback among them. It would constantly dive, resurface, and quickly dive again, making it difficult to get prolonged views. We did manage several good scope views however before heading for Lodge Lane where we failed to find the Lesser Scaup but did add Greater Scaup to the day total.

View of the pumping station on the walk to Lodge Lane viewpoint

We ended the day at Copt Hall Marshes, a wildlife-rich working farm where we enjoyed views of two Short-eared Owls hunting over the saltmarsh. A Merlin perched on a fence post, and three Med Gulls in the field behind the car park.

Saltmarshes

I ended the day with 67 species, including the 11 I saw from the garden yesterday. My total stands at 78