Goldeneye duck have remained elusive to me. These shy birds I have always seen at a distance, except in waterfowl collections, out in the middle of a large lake or far off the beach. I came across a bird at relatively close quarters at the local marine lake which gave the first opportunity to take some photos of a wild bird. Fortunately it was a beautifully marked drake, the only downside was the light conditions were very poor.

A young Great Northern Diver appeared at the local Marine Lake on Friday which I was alerted to early Saturday morning by text (many thanks Steve :)), but it was Sunday before I could get out there to try and photograph it. The bird gave really close views for only a couple of minutes during the session and of course during a torrential downpour which saw everyone running to the shelter of their cars.

The bird was doing some fishing and came up with a small crab which was causing it a few moments of difficulty...

Especially as the crab seem to latch on to the birds tongue.

I have been working on a mini project over the last couple of months to get some curlew shots. They are a very nervous species and have noticed them moving away even when on sand banks well offshore in the local estuary. I managed to locate a flock of birds on a nearby field which conivently has an adjacent car park to allow me to use the 'mobile citroen hide'. Even so it has still taken quite a bit of time spent before the birds have come within sensible photographing range and the light was good enough under the grey winter skies. Having said that I have enjoyed watching them and learning their behaviour. Here are a selection of shots from a 10 minute period, after many hours of watching, when it all came together.

This is the only flight shot I have managed to get so far

I was also treated with watching some birds bathe in one of the puddles in the field.

There have been three Shag that have taken residence up on the local Marine Lake and but conditions have created some difficult shooting. The rough water added some mood to the shots though.

On the local beach there have been some impressive gatherings of Knot and BLack and Bar tailed Godwits.

I am working on a plan for getting close to the Godwits but at the moment have just settled for shots off the seawall as I arrived a little too late on the receding tide.

Sanderling are always fun to photograph as the scurry around the tide line.